Evaluating the effectiveness of a mentoring program for Indigenous trainees in Australia using propensity score analysis

Traineeships have been shown to be successful in generating improved labour market outcomes and are often recommended as a policy option for disadvantaged youth. Regretfully data indicate that one such target group, Indigenous Australians, continues to have lower traineeship completion rates than the non-Indigenous. To address this issue, a program of mentoring for Indigenous students has been implemented in Australia. This paper provides the first quantitative evaluation of this mentoring program by using propensity score matching techniques. Post-matching analysis indicates the program increased the completion rate of Indigenous trainees by approximately 10%.