The VoxDev article explores whether showing people from marginalised communities successful role models can inspire them to improve their economic circumstances. Based on an experiment with ethnic minority communities in Vietnam, the researchers find that role models who share people's ethnic background can temporarily increase their belief in their own ability to succeed, but inspiration alone does not necessarily improve their lives.
The researchers tested whether short videos featuring successful entrepreneurs could help address this problem. They worked with 803 ethnic minority households across 88 communes in northern Vietnam, where minority communities experience higher poverty rates and have less access to markets, finance and public resources.
The study found that the effect of these videos was short-lived. The boost in participant belief in their own agency disappeared by a third screening. The authors conclude that representation is unlikely to be sufficient in overcoming poverty, and they emphasise that role models should complement, rather than replace, wider efforts to address inequality.
Professor Gaia Narciso is a Professor of Economics in Trinity College Dublin. Professor Carol Newman is a Professor of Economics in Trinity College Dublin.