How do social differences affect HE aspirations and participation?

This project aims to map the effects of social differences on young people’s desire to go to university, and their actual participation in higher education. It will be based on quantitative secondary data analysis of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE). This data set contains longitudinal data on young people’s attitudes and aspirations towards higher education from age 13 upwards. A new wave of data means that this can also be linked to actual participation rates in higher education.

A wide range of possible explanatory variables will be used to investigate the key factors which influence these outcomes, including social class, ethnicity, gender, parents’ involvement in education, as well as students’ prior attainment and any experiences of bullying at school.

There will be three stages to the data analysis. First, the researchers will examine the educational experience and occupational social class of the young person’s parents, taking into account the household structure (e.g. the presence of one or two parents). Next, they will look at how higher education aspirations shift during the final three years of compulsory education, and the relationship between these aspirations and experiences of bullying. They will also consider how socio-economic factors shape this relationship. Finally, the researchers will consider the reality of participation in higher education, and address these key questions:

• What is the current nature of the socio-economic gap in access to higher education? This will examine more traditional and less traditional routes from the end of secondary education to higher education, and delve into access to Russell Group universities, including Oxbridge.

• How do aspirations fit with the reality of access? And how do socio-economic factors and experiences of bullying shape this?