Choosing University: The Impact of Schools and Schooling: Final Report to the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education

Despite government policy and the concerted efforts of schools and universities, students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds (SES) remain under-represented in universities. This study builds on and contributes to efforts to understand the aspirations of these students for higher education. Although many studies have examined the relationship between student background and higher education participation and others have explored barriers to and enablers of the transition from school to university (e.g., Bowles, Fisher, McPhail, Rosenstreich, & Dobson, 2014; Gorard et al., 2007) no previous study has analysed the impact of schools and schooling on students’ intention to pursue university education with the range of data and forms of analysis presented here. Drawing on (1) surveys of the secondary students and (2) interviews with current and past students of particular schools as well as some of their parents, teachers, careers advisers, and principals, this study provides unique insight into the impact of schools on students’ interest in attending or not attending university. The study analyses the impact of schools and schooling on the aspirations for university education of more than 800 Year 11 students in relatively ‘disadvantaged’ NSW government schools, investigating such factors as school ethos, teachers and teaching, subject availability, and careers-focused activities. The reflections of 25 students from the same schools, currently enrolled in university degrees, enables additional retrospective insights to be compared with the views of those students who are still at school. Case studies of diverse schools, in terms of location and student profile, enable rich contextual accounts to illustrate findings from the quantitative analyses. The aim of the study was to provide a comprehensive account of factors linked with aspirations over which schools might have some control, in order to provide schools with guidance on actions or specific interventions they might implement to improve the higher education participation and success of students from low SES schools and communities.