The Role of Perceived Benefits, Costs, and Probability of Success in Students’ Plans for Higher Education. A Quasi-experimental Test of Rational Choice Theory

Vocational School Students' Aspirations for Higher Education and Selected Social Background Characteristics

“…Compared to students who did not aspire to higher education, the effects of SES, cultural capital, and RRA were positive and consistent for those who showed a clear intention to continue higher education and those who were yet indecisive in this regard. This result is consistent with previous findings regarding secondary school students' aspirations for higher education [Daniel and Watermann 2018;Dupriez et al 2012;Khattab 2015]. It has to be noted that the effects of cultural capital for each of the mentioned categories of students were stronger for those of higher SES, that is, for those who had more educated parents (Hypothesis 2a confirmed), and that these effects were not dependent on school year (Hypothesis 2c partly confirmed).…”

“…The RRA model has been researched internationally [e.g. Becker 2003;Daniel and Watermann 2018;Davies, Heinesen and Holm 2002;Stocké 2007] with mixed results concerning its effects on educational ambi-tions and decision-making. Using data from a Dutch panel survey of high school students, Need and de Jong [2000] found that the RRA mechanism can explain class differentials in students' aspirations for higher education, which may be responsible for class differentials in educational attainment.…”

“…Van de Werfhorst and Hofstede [2007] showed that secondary school students' aspirations for higher levels of education were formed through concerns with downward mobility, albeit no direct effect of social background on schooling ambitions has been found. Drawing on data from factorial and traditional surveys of upper secondary school students in Germany, Daniel and Watermann [2018] called into question the RRA hypothesis (that RRA is the driving force behind aspirations for higher education), since the authors did not find social differences in students' situational intentions for engagement in higher education. Although past studies indicate the relevance of RRA for educational aspirations, it has been noted that the observed effects may be far from conclusive, since they often rely on proxy variables instead of robust indicators of the theoretical construct [Stocké 2007;cf.…”

To work or to study? Postmigration educational investments of adult refugees in Germany – Evidence from a choice experiment

“…As further argued by Stocké (2008) and supported empirically (Daniel/Watermann 2018;Stocké 2008), the perceived benefits of the educational option may be obscure when the probability of their realization is perceived to be low. For instance, if the chances of successful graduation are in doubt, then even very high expected remuneration after training may be less valuable, causing one to refrain from choosing the educational option.…”

Curiosity and careers: Female working-class students’ experiences of university

“…Bourdieu's concept of habitus (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977;Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992) offers a bridge between structural and agentic factors to try and understand working-class students' experiences of university. The concept of habitus has been used to understand how different cultural dispositions of women and/or working-class students shape decisions about, and experiences of, university study (recent examples include Clark et al, 2015;Daniel & Watermann, 2018;Liu, 2019).…”