Community & Family

All 6 articles in this section

Mentors Matter, but Not the Way Programmes Assume

Mentors Matter, but Not the Way Programmes Assume

Mentoring evaluations find small average effects and large variation. Duration and the circumstances of ending predict outcomes better than anything about the matching.

Emily Davis · 4 min read
Fathers, Daughters and the Research on Encouragement

Fathers, Daughters and the Research on Encouragement

Studies of parental influence find specific effects on subject choice, risk-taking and career aspiration. What is modelled at home predicts more than what is said.

Neha Gupta · 4 min read
The Mental Load Teenagers Already Carry

The Mental Load Teenagers Already Carry

The cognitive work of anticipating, tracking and organising is distributed unevenly in households, and the distribution begins well before adulthood.

Laura Bennett · 4 min read
Girls Who Care for Family Members: The Invisible Student Population

Girls Who Care for Family Members: The Invisible Student Population

Young carers are present in most schools, are substantially under-identified, and have measurably worse educational outcomes. Identification is the entire problem.

Aarav Sharma · 4 min read
Peer Groups Do More Than Parents Think, and Less Than They Fear

Peer Groups Do More Than Parents Think, and Less Than They Fear

Peer influence during adolescence is substantial and operates through selection as much as through pressure. The distinction matters for what can be done about it.

David Smith · 4 min read
Building a Local Girls’ Programme That Survives Its First Year

Building a Local Girls’ Programme That Survives Its First Year

Most community programmes close within two years. The failure modes are predictable enough to design around, and none of them concerns the quality of the activity.

Emily Davis · 4 min read