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IZA Discussion Paper No. 18272
November 2025
Smart Skilling: Experimental Evidence on Vocational Training Design

We study how the design of vocational skill training programs impacts labor market outcomes, including occupational choice. Women applicants to skill training centres in India are randomized into either a vocational training (VT) program that combines sector-specific hard skills with on-the-job training, or VT plus Project-Based Experiential Learning that incorporates digital skills (VTP), or a control group which is not enrolled into any skill training. Almost a year after the start of the intervention, the nature of employment shifts towards the women's preferred sector, leading to higher self-employed work and earnings therein. These positive effects are observed only for the VTP group, whose usage of social media for business purposes increases due to the intervention. At the same time, satisfaction levels of women assigned to VTP training rise on multiple dimensions. Our findings highlight the role of complementary sector-specific skills in enhancing the impact of vocational training.

Kommunikation
Mark Fallak
mark.fallak@liser.lu
+352 585-855-526
World of Labour
Olga Nottmeyer
olga.nottmeyer@liser.lu
+352 585-855-501
Netzwerkkoordination
Christina Gathmann
christina.gathmann@liser.lu

Das IZA@LISER-Netzwerk ist eine weltweite Gemeinschaft für exzellente Forschung in der Arbeitsmarktökonomie und angrenzenden Fachgebieten. Nach dem Wechsel von Bonn wird das Netzwerk nun am Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) koordiniert.

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