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Advancing the Agency of Adolescent Girls

More than 98 million adolescent girls are not in school. Can girls influence their school- ing without changes in their family’s economic environment? In Rajasthan, India, we examine the impact of a school-based life skills program that seeks to address low aspirations, narrow societal roles for girls and women, restricted networks of social support, and limited decision-making power. We find the intervention causes a 25 per- cent decline in school dropout that persists from seventh grade through the transition to high school. Improvements in socio-emotional support among girls exposed to the intervention seem especially important in their decision to stay in school.