Are Aspirations Being Raised

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Are Aspirations Being Raised?

• Aimhigher Southwest Regional Strand 3
• Longitudinal School Student Tracking Study
• Jim Tate University of the West of England
• Arthur Baxter University of the West of England

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Aim of the Tracking Study

• To assess the longer term impact of WP
  interventions (involving HE students) on the
  participating schoolchildren
• The tracking project has a quantitative element
  in collating data on student qualifications,
  first destinations, etc., and a qualitative
  element using questionnaires and face-to-face
  interviews.

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• Method
• Focus groups
• Individual interviews
• Questionnaires
• Timescale Year 11 (2004) to Year 13 (2006)
• Participants School students who had Aimhigher
  or Excellence Challenge interventions from 2002.

This workshop will concentrate on questionnaire
responses and student interviews as they relate
to school students aspirations to HE
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Who did we talk to?

• Questionnaires
• 235 questionnaires were returned.
• 135 of them were from children contacted via
  their schools.
• 100 of them were from school students whilst at
  HE summer schools.

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Year 11 Interviews

• Interviewed in their own schools70 students
  across 7 schools(mostly focus groups)
  Interviewed at Summer Schools58 students across
  5 summer schools (mostly individual interviews)

• Total students interviewed, Feb/July 2004 128

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Year 12 Interviews

• 4 focus groups
• 11 individual interviews
• (includes some follow up interviews)
• Total students interviewed 33

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Plans for the Future Questionnaire responses
Leave school to get a job 0.9 Stay on at
college/school 96.7 Go to University
40.2 Apprenticeship 3.8 Don't Know
1.3
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Family Influence on HE Aspiration
Year 11s with family experience in HE 59 said
they intended to stay on at school or college,
and 34.7 said they intended to stay on and go to
university. Year 11s without family experience
in HE 48.3 (lower than above) said that they
intended to stay on at school/college and 47.1
(higher than above) said that they intended to
stay on and go to university.
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Attitudes to University

• High Aspirations on the questionnaire
• 40.2 of the Year 11s said they are intending to
  go to university. (Participation rate of young
  people in the SW was 29 at time of study.)
• 80.3 of those responding said they had friends
  who are planning to attend HE.
• 78 agreed that it was worth going into HE to
  get a better job.

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Perception of University(from questionnaire)
Cool place to be 40.1 Worth it for better
job 78 OK but not for me 8.8 Its just
like school 3.1
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Some Surpriseswhat they didnt say in
interviews

• The not for the likes of us barrier
• The Im not brainy enough barrier
• Working class students having a pronounced
  preference for studying locally
• Being motivated to enter university because its
  the time of your life

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Instrumental Attitudes
Debt Instrumentalism Thats more scary, yeah.
Thats the one thing thats putting me off it,
big style. Cos I dont want to be in debt for the
majority of my life. Thats why I want a good job
so that I havent got to be in debt.
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Instrumental Attitudes
Job Instrumentalism Id rather have a degree in
something thats going to help me in my job. Not
just a degree thats going to get me a job, I
want it to actually help me in my job.
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What can we conclude?

• Aspirations to HE were high.
• Students had a positive view of universities.
• HE is seen as a possible life choice.
• Expectations about disadvantaged attitudes.
• Waiting for 2006.

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