Institutional constraints and the translation of college aspirations into intentions - evidence from a factorial survey

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

Test Participation or Test Performance: Why Do Men Benefit from Test-Based Admission to Higher Education?

This study illuminates the male advantage in test-based admissions to higher education. In contrast to many other countries, admission tests in Germany are optional, and test-free programs are available. This context offers a unique opportunity to investigate whether the male advantage in test-based admissions is caused by gender differences in test performance or in test participation. We use novel register data for the whole population of 300,000 applicants to highly selective and prestigious medical programs in Germany. We find that men perform better in tests and that female applicants are more likely to withdraw from admission tests. Both differences, however, depend on high school grade point average (GPA): The male advantage in test performance emerges only among test-takers with a lower GPA, and female applicants’ stronger test avoidance appears only among women with a medium GPA. Ultimately, both mechanisms contribute to a male advantage in test-based admissions (ceteris paribus of GPA), with better test performance being the major source for male applicants’ higher admission chances. As a consequence, we find the female advantage in school performance and the male advantage in test-based admissions almost neutralize each other

New horizontal inequalities in German higher education? Social selectivity of studying abroad between 1991 and 2012

On the basis of theories of cultural reproduction and rational choice, we examine whether access to study-abroad opportunities is socially selective and whether this pattern changed during educational expansion. We test our hypotheses for Germany by combining student survey data and administrative data on higher education entry rates. We find that studying abroad was socially selective during the entire observation period. Selectivity increased between 1991 and 2003 and hardly changed thereafter. Unexpectedly, the expansion of higher education does not explain this development. We also find that students from a high social background are more likely to choose exclusive types of stays abroad, that is, prolonged stays and stays funded through study-abroad scholarships. Regarding access to scholarships, social inequality increased as studying abroad became less exclusive. High-background students thus seem to replace their prior practices with more exclusive study-abroad practices

Soziale Herkunft und die Umsetzung von Studienaspirationen

Ausgangspunkt des Buches ist das für Deutschland konstatierte Problem geringer Studierendenquoten bei gleichzeitig ausgeprägter sozialer Ungleichheit im Studium. Das Buch untersucht dabei individuelle und institutionelle Hürden bei der Umsetzung von Studienaspirationen und fragt, ob es selbst auf diesem „kurzen Stück“ ins Studium soziale Herkunftsunterschiede gibt. Im Mittelpunkt der Untersuchung stehen theoretisch wie quantitativ empirisch verschiedene Phasen der Aspirationsumsetzung – Intention, Bewerbung, Zulassung, Studienaufnahme – sowie die direkte und indirekte Rolle von Gatekeepingprozessen an deutschen Hochschulen.; The book examines individual and institutional barriers that high school graduates with college aspirations face and asks whether there are social background differences even within this highly selective group. It focuses theoretically as well as empirically on different phases – intentions, applications, admissions, enrolment – and allows a first glance on the direct and indirect influence of gatekeeping processes of German universities

Applying to college: do information deficits lower the likelihood of college-eligible students from less-privileged families to pursue their college intentions? Evidence from a field experiment

Information deficits are considered an important source of why students from less-privileged families do not enroll in college, even when they are college-eligible and intend to go to college. In this paper, we examine whether correct and detailed information on the costs of and returns to higher education increases the likelihood of college applications of less-privileged high school graduates who expressed college intentions in their junior high school year. We employ an experimental design with a randomly assigned 25-minute information treatment about funding opportunities for, and returns to, higher education given at Berlin schools awarding university entrance qualifications. Our analyses show that our information treatment indeed substantially increases the likelihood of treated less-privileged students to apply to college. Our study indicates that our low-cost provision of financial information not only increased their college knowledge but also substantially changed their college application behavior, despite other existing barriers, like economic constraints

Adolescents: Orphaned and Vulnerable in the Time of HIV/AIDS

This paper calls for greater attention to orphaned and vulnerable adolescents by agencies working in this field

Gender differences in the choice of field of study and the relevance of income information: Insights from a field experiment

Research consistently reports pronounced earnings differences between men and women, even among the highly educated. This article investigates whether students' responsiveness to information on income returns relates to gender differences in major choices, which might contribute to the persistent gender wage gap. We use field-experimental panel data on students in Berlin (Germany), starting one year before high school graduation. Our intervention comprised information on major-specific returns to college and was provided to students in randomly selected schools. By comparing the major-specific application decisions of "treated" and "untreated" high school seniors, we examine whether, and why, male and female students respond differently to this information. As potential mechanisms behind a gender-specific treatment effect, we analyze the role of gender stereotypes and roles associated with certain job attributes. We find that providing income information on college majors only influences the major choices of male (not female) students with college intention: treated male students on average applied to majors associated with higher mean income. Further analyses suggest that this gender difference in the treatment effect cannot be explained by differential distributions or effects of preferred job attributes

Estratégias para o desenvolvimento da competência lexical: relações com a compreensão em leitura

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Lingüistica, Florianópolis, 2010Os desafios existentes no processo de ensino e aprendizagem da ectoescritura são muitos e diversos, e ultrapassam as fronteiras do ensino básico, chegando ao ensino universitário. Várias pesquisas (RIBEIRO, 1999, 2003; INAF, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009; FINGER-KRATOCHVIL; BARETTA; KLEIN, 2005) e avaliações nacionais e internacionais e.g., Pisa, Enem, Prova Brasil têm apontado a fragilidade da competência leitora e a necessidade de ampliar o conhecimento e formas de resolução do problema. Neste trabalho, o objetivo foi estudar as relações entre as estratégias de aquisição do conhecimento lexical (competência lexical) e a compreensão em leitura. Valendo-se de abordagem psicolinguística, utilizando-se métodos mistos (aninhamento e triangulação), nesta pesquisa de cunho experimental, investigou-se, inicialmente, a competência leitora, atitudes e posicionamentos diante de leitura, de um grupo de 31 sujeitos do primeiro ano de um curso universitário em uma universidade no interior de Santa Catarina. Com base nesses resultados, onze participantes foram selecionados para a etapa experimental. Essa etapa foi planejada e executada em três ciclos, além do ciclo um descrito anteriormente: no ciclo dois, os participantes realizaram tarefas de leitura no software Translog, valendo-se de relatos verbais (TAPs), concomitantemente, os quais foram registrados em áudio e vídeo para posterior transcrição e análise. Ao final da leitura, produziram uma síntese. Entre os textos propostos para a leitura, havia um com outro sem pseudopalavras. O ciclo três compreendeu um período (com 20 h/a) de ensino e aprendizagem (PEA) de estratégias de aquisição do conhecimento lexical, contextual e morfológica. Por fim, o ciclo quatro replicou as etapas do ciclo dois. A análise dos dados gerados durante a leitura nesses dois ciclos foi subdividida em cinco aspectos para a análise: a avaliação dos especialistas das sínteses elaboradas; o emprego das estratégias contextual e morfológica; o uso do dicionário; o tempo utilizado à leitura; a análise geral dos TAPs. Cada um desses aspectos foi analisado de acordo com suas peculiaridades. Os dados foram analisados, sempre que possível, de forma qualitativa e quantitativa, visando ao diálogo entre essas abordagens. Confirmando pesquisas anteriores, os resultados revelaram uma competência leitora frágil e que carece de conhecimentos não só procedimentais e condicionais, mas também declarativos para o desenvolvimento de um leitor-aprendiz estratégico. Constatou-se que um período de 20 h/a é insuficiente para tratar essas lacunas, contudo os resultados apontam mudanças no comportamento dos leitores após o PEA, indicando sua efetividade.Literacy has produced substantial and different challenges to the processes of teaching and learning the written language, going far beyond the elementary school level and reaching higher education. Different studies (RIBEIRO, 1999, 2003; INAF, 2001-2009; FINGERKRATOCHVIL; BARETTA; KLEIN, 2005), national and international programs of evaluation e.g., Enem, Prova Brasil, Pisa have pointed out many weaknesses on the students reading abilities. It has also become evident in these studies the necessity to enlarge the knowledge about it and the ways to try to solve these problems. The goal of this research was to study the strategies of acquisition of lexical knowledge (lexical competence) and its relationship to reading comprehension. Using a psycholinguistic approach and mixed methods, this experimental research investigated, first, the reading abilities of 31 entry-level college students of a university in the countryside of Santa Catarina. Based on these primary results, eleven participants were selected to the experimental phase. Three cycles were planned and executed: first, participants did two reading tasks using the Translog software, and tried to report their thoughts while doing the tasks, through the Think-Aloud Protocols method, which were registered in audio and video for later transcription and analysis. As their final task for each reading task, students had to write a summary of it. One of the two proposed texts contained pseudowords. The third cycle comprised a 20-hours period of teaching and learning about strategies of vocabulary knowledge, context and morphology. At last, the fourth cycle replicated the second one. The data generated in the second and fourth cycles were analyzed observing five different aspects according to their peculiarities: judgers evaluation of participants summaries; use of contextual and morphological strategies; use of dictionary; time devoted to the task; and a general view of the Think-Aloud Protocols. The analysis and interpretation of data was based on the mixed method research (embedded strategy and triangulation). Regarding previous research, the results revealed weak reading abilities that lack, not only procedural and conditional knowledge, but also declarative knowledge, an essential condition to develop a strategic learner-reader. Even though the results pointed to some changes in the readers behavior after the teaching period, indicating, to some extent, its effectiveness, this work verified that a 20- hours period is not enough to fill in the gaps that these participants have brought with them since the previous stages of their education