Institutional constraints and the translation of college aspirations into intentions—Evidence from a factorial survey

Autor: Claudia Finger
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
college aspiration
institutional constraints
vignette study
college
university level of education
Sociology & anthropology
Schulübergang
0504 sociology
Germany
ComputingMilieux_COMPUTERSANDEDUCATION
Sociology
Bildung und Erziehung
Hochschulbildung
school transition
media_common
social inequality
05 social sciences
Socialization
050301 education
Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Zulassungsbeschränkung
university admission
higher education
Bildungs- und Erziehungssoziologie
institutional factors
Hochschulzugang
ddc:301
Bildungschance
Social psychology
Reputation
College application
050402 sociology
Higher education
Bildungswesen tertiärer Bereich
media_common.quotation_subject
Bildungsverlauf
Federal Republic of Germany
soziale Ungleichheit
Education
educational opportunity
ddc:370
admissions restriction
course of education
ddc:330
Mathematics education
institutionelle Faktoren
Social inequality
Status attainment
Constraint (mathematics)
business.industry
Rational choice theory
University Education
Sociology of Education
Soziologie
Anthropologie
business
0503 education
Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Zdroj: Research in Social Stratification and Mobility
ISSN: 0276-5624
Popis: This article examines under which conditions high school students’ college aspirations (unconstrained wishes) translate into (constrained) college intentions. Drawing on the Wisconsin model of status attainment and sociological rational choice theory, it is argued that—while educational aspirations are mainly the result of socialization processes within families and schools—educational intentions are constrained by institutional opportunities and barriers emerging from the higher education system, which might influence students from different social backgrounds in different ways. The focus lies on four institutional characteristics of German higher education institutions—namely geographical distance, reputation, selection procedures and the information provided by colleges. Methodologically, I draw on a factorial survey on application intentions for college programs that is integrated in a survey of Berlin high school students who indicated an aspiration to attend college one year before graduating. The findings suggest that distance from home is an especially strong constraint on college application intentions. The effects of the institutional dimensions, however, rarely differ for students from different social backgrounds. Nevertheless, social background differences can be observed regarding the overall strength of application intentions indicating that socially advantaged students feel generally less constrained by the institutional characteristics presented to them. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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