From School to Higher Education in Australia.

Overview & Synopsis

The paper explores the question of why young people go on from school to higher education in Australia, viewing the decision as a function of individual attributes and situational characteristics. A theory to explain young people's decisions is developed, proposing that young people choose to go because they find higher education to be both attractive and attainable. A model is then advanced to predict the likelihood of a young person going on to higher education. The model examines student motivation, student achievement, home location, parents' socioeconomic status, parent encouragement, teacher encouragement, friends' plans, and type of high school attended. The model was tested using data collected from 1,337 students in Victoria and 1,063 students in Queensland on direct entry from school to higher education. Young people were more likely to go on to higher education if they were attracted to certain features of higher education, had attained better senior year academic achievements, received encouragement for higher education participation, had friends who were planning to go on to higher education, attended a non-Catholic independent rather than a government school, and had parents who were more financially secure and better educated. Includes 59 references. (JDD)