Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/223829 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 13387
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Inequality of opportunity strikes when two children with the same academic performance are sent to different quality schools because their parents differ in socio-economic status. Based on a novel dataset for Germany, we demonstrate that children are significantly less likely to enter the academic track if they come from low socio-economic status (SES) families, even after conditioning on prior measures of school performance. We then provide causal evidence that a low-intensity mentoring program can improve long-run education outcomes of low SES children and reduce inequality of opportunity. Low SES children, who were randomly assigned to a mentor for one year are 20 percent more likely to enter a high track program. The mentoring relationship affects both parents and children and has positive long-term implications for children's educational trajectories.
Subjects: 
mentoring
childhood intervention programs
education
human capital investments
inequality of opportunity
socio-economic status
JEL: 
C90
I24
J24
J62
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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