A TV serial drama triggered collective action that nearly quadrupled girls’ school enrollment

Evidence

Intensive interviews with village inhabitants revealed that the drama sparked serious public discussions about the broadcast’s themes, such as child marriages, dowry requirements, the education of girls, the benefits of small families, and other social issues (Papa et al., 2000). These social transactions went beyond talk to collective community action aimed at changing inequitable normative practices and improving the inhabitants’ futures. Indeed, one village sent to the broadcast center a large poster letter, signed by its residents, stating that they would work to eradicate dowries and child marriages and support the education of daughters. The enrollment of girls in elementary and junior high schools rose from 10% to 38% in one year of the broadcast. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2907

Categorization

• QUESTION: The girls’ enrollment jump from 10% to 38% in one year is striking — how much was actually attributable to the broadcast versus other concurrent developments?