Longitudinal Study Of Young People In England Research Articles

The role of the university environment in shaping education and employment inequalities

ABSTRACT Life course theory posits that social, structural, and cultural contexts shape individuals’ life outcomes. Using this theory, we investigated whether inequalities in education and employment outcomes for young people with marginalised identities are shaped by the university environment they attended. Based on UK national statistics, universities with similar social, cultural, economic, and physical environments were clustered. These clusters were linked to the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) cohort dataset to determine whether different university environments predicted differences in outcomes. We observed a mixed picture with no definitive pattern for any marginalised identity. Social and economic environments played a role in predicting education outcomes of young people. Social, cultural, and economic environments were important in predicting employment outcomes. The physical environment did not have any impact. This research emphasises a need for more creative policies within certain universities that address education and employment inequalities.

Girls' video gaming behaviour and undergraduate degree selection: A secondary data analysis approach

Girls' uptake of physical science, technology, engineering and mathematics (PSTEM) degrees continues to be poor. Identifying and targeting interventions for girl groups that are likely to go into STEM degrees may be a possible solution. This paper, using a self-determination theory and self-socialisation framework, determines whether one girl group's, “geek girls”, video gaming behaviour is associated with their choice of undergraduate degree by using two secondary datasets: a cross-sectional study of the Net Generation (n = 814) and the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) dataset (n = 7342). Chi-square analysis shows that girls who were currently studying a PSTEM degree were more likely to be gamers and engage in multiplayer gamers. Further, using logistic regressions, girls who were heavy gamers (>9 h/wk) at 13–14 years were found to be more likely to pursue a PSTEM degree but this was influenced by their socio-economic status. Similar associations with boys and PSTEM degrees were not found or were weak. Therefore, girls were self-socialising or self-determining their identity groups through gaming. This research can provide the basis for whether encouraging gaming in adolescent girls can help them onto PSTEM pathways.

Social Class, Gender and Ethnic Differences in Subjects Taken at Age 14.

ABSTRACTIn this paper, we identify patterns of subject and qualification choices made at age 14. Much of the previous research on ‘subject choice’ has focussed on the later stages of educational trajectories, particularly Higher Education. However, the choices made at early branching points can limit pupils’ subsequent options, potentially contributing to educational inequalities. This paper identifies the patterns of General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) subjects chosen by a cohort of young people born in 1989/1990. We make use of the Next Steps data (formerly the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE)) which is linked to the National Pupil Database. We develop an approach to measuring the academic selectivity of subjects and qualifications. We examine the roles of social class, parental education, income, gender and ethnicity in determining participation in these curriculum groupings. Using measures of prior attainment from age thirteen, we address the question of whether curriculum differentials simply reflect differences in prior attainment or whether they actually operate above and beyond existing inequalities. We find clear socio‐economic, gender, ethnic and school‐level differences in subjects studied which cannot be accounted for by prior attainment.

Emotional engagement, educational aspirations, and their association during secondary school

Previous research has demonstrated the link between school engagement and academic attainment, but there is less understanding of the relationship between school engagement and educational aspirations. Using the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE), this study examines the association between emotional engagement and educational aspirations during secondary school, covering ages 14 to 16. On average, emotional engagement increased over time. A significant proportion of adolescents shifted from expressing uncertainty to aspiring to continue in education. Males were more likely than females to shift from aspiring to continue in education to planning to leave school early. Greater emotional engagement was associated with a lower likelihood of having low or uncertain aspirations, especially for high-achieving, ethnic minority, and male adolescents. Findings highlight the importance of emotional engagement, particularly for those at risk of uncertain educational aspirations and those least likely to continue in education following post-compulsory schooling.

Disadvantaged neighbourhoods and young people not in education, employment or training at the ages of 18 to 19 in England

ABSTRACTThere is a growing interest among researchers in the impact of locality on young people who are inactive and not engaged in education, employment or training (NEETs). Previous research on this, however, is rather limited and does not account for a number of characteristics that mediate the effects of disadvantaged neighbourhoods on transition outcomes. This study investigates the effects of neighbourhood context on young people who experience NEET status at the ages 18 to 19 in one cohort born in 1989/90 in the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE). The analyses control for a wide range of factors which may affect NEET status. Drawing on previous sociological theories, we develop a theoretical framework that specifies four levels of influence on young people’s development: individual, family, school and peer group characteristics. Potential pathways between neighbourhood context and individual outcomes are explored using a logistic regression model. We demonstrate that there is a higher probability for young people who live in high-crime areas to become NEETs in comparison to those who live in less-deprived areas.

Co-Development of Educational Expectations and Effort: Their Antecedents and Role as Predictors of Academic Success

This study examined the co-development of educational expectations and effort (conceptualized as indicators of individual agency) during secondary school and assessed their role as predictors of academic success, controlling for prior academic attainment and parental social background. Drawing on data collected for the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE), a nationally representative sample, the findings suggest reciprocal effects between expectations and effort, shaped by family SES and prior academic attainment. Agency is not a static construct, it is not fully determined by family SES and students adapt their functioning and choices in response to informative feedback loops.

‘People like me don’t have much of a chance in life’: comparing the locus of control of young people in foster care with that of adoptees, children from disadvantaged backgrounds and children in the general population

There is a paucity of research on the locus of control of children and young people growing up in foster care in England. Based on secondary analyses of data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE), this article explores the locus of control of fostered young people during adolescence compared to those in adoptive care, those growing up in disadvantaged circumstances and young people in the general population. As the questions asked of the young people in the LSYPE did not form part of a standardised locus of control scale, the dimensionality of the items was first verified through a principal components analysis (PCA). The fostered young people scored significantly higher on external locus of control items compared to those in adopted and general population groups, and were similar to young people in the disadvantaged group. Reasons for the high external scores in the fostered group and implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Does Teacher Encouragement Influence Students\u2019 Educational Progress? A Propensity-Score Matching Analysis

Theory suggests that teacher encouragement can aid students’ educational progress, but there are not yet quantitative inferential studies that assess its longer-term impact. With data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE), I use propensity-score matching to investigate whether encouragement influences the likelihood of students enrolling in (1) advanced high school (A-level) courses and (2) a university degree course. Model estimates suggest that encouragement does have a significant positive impact on both outcomes. In addition, I investigate whether encouragement effects vary according to parental education and the given student’s prior academic achievement; it appears that the impact is greatest for those students in the middle third of academic achievement as well as those with lower levels of parental education. These findings have important policy implications, especially as it seems that teacher encouragement has the greatest influence on those students most likely to be on the margin for university attendance.

Childhood academic ability in relation to cigarette, alcohol and cannabis use from adolescence into early adulthood: Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE)

ObjectivesOur aim was to determine the association between childhood academic ability and the onset and persistence of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use across adolescence in a representative sample of English...

Immigrant optimism or anticipated discrimination? Explaining the first educational transition of ethnic minorities in England

Recent studies have shown that ethnic minorities of immigrant origin are more likely to continue in education than students of the majority group with similar levels of achievement. Even though most research on this topic is still descriptive, different explanations have been proposed for these findings. The first explanation emerges from the social stratification literature on primary and secondary effects, which considers students’ decisions to continue in education a product of a rational strategy. According to this literature, the perception of labour market discrimination increases the costs of dropping out for ethnic minority students, who will therefore decide to continue into upper-secondary education more often than native majority students performing at the same level. The other explanation emerges from the literature on immigrants’ optimism and the positive selection of migration flows. According to these theories, ethnic minorities’ high continuation rates in education are a reflection of their ‘immigrant optimism’ and drive for success in the destination country. Building upon these prior investigations, this study aims to explain the high continuation rates to upper secondary education of ethnic minorities in England. First, I examine whether students’ anticipation of labour market discrimination motivates an ethnic compensation strategy in education, which translates into high educational expectations and, subsequently, high continuation rates to post-compulsory education. And second, I analyse the impact of students’ prior educational expectations on their transition rates to upper secondary education, particularly whether ethnic minorities’ early optimism eventually translates into actual educational choices. The survey Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) and the student census National Pupil Database (NPD) are used to test the hypotheses. The results show that the ethnic gap in expectations relative to the White British majority is not related to anticipated discrimination, and ethnic minority students who anticipate labour market discrimination do not make different educational choices compared to those who do not anticipate discrimination. In contrast, prior educational expectations represent the main factor driving the transitions of ethnic minority students, thus supporting the immigrant optimism explanation.

Heterogeneous Effects of High School Peers on Educational Outcomes

We investigate the relationship between peers' abilities and educational outcomes at the end of high school using data from the rich Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) matched to the National Pupil Database of children in state schools in England. In particular, we focus on the effect of peers' abilities, measured through achievements in Key Stage 3 (Age 14), on high powered test scores at Ages 16 and 18, and on the probability of attending university. Our identification strategy is based on a measure of the peers of peers' ability. In particular, for each individual, we look at her high school peers and select their primary school peers who do not attend the same high school and who did not attend the same primary school as the individual. We then use peers-of-peers ability, measured using Age 11 test scores as an instrument for high school average peer ability, measured using Age 14 test scores. We also use quantile regression to explore the effect of peers' ability on different parts of the distributions of the outcomes. Our results show that average of peers' abilities has a moderate positive effect on test scores at Ages 16 and 18, and that being in a school with a large proportion of low-quality peers can have a significantly detrimental effect on individual achievements. Furthermore, peers' ability seems to have a stronger effect on students at the bottom of the grade distribution, especially at Age 16.

Teenagers’ Expectations of Applying to University: How do they Change?

We show how young people’s expectations about application to university change during the teenage years, drawing on the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE). We reveal the pattern of change by family background, prior attainment at the end of primary school (measured by Key Stage 2 tests) and, critically, the combination of the two. We document the relationship between expectations about university application and the decision on whether to stay on in full-time education at 16. We point to the importance of schools in sustaining or changing expectations. We relate the expectations reported by the teenagers in LSYPE to their actual university application decisions by age 20 or 21. Expectations are high but not universally high. Family background gaps in expectations widen during the teenage years.

G492 Health in adolescence influences educational attainments and life chances: longitudinal associations in the longitudinal study of young people in england (LSYPE)

Aims Education is recognised as a social determinant of health with poor academic attainment linked to poorer health. Reverse causal pathways have been largely overlooked. Likewise, exploration of risk factors for youth unemployment have rarely examined the impact of poor adolescent health. This study longitudinally examines causal pathways from poor adolescent health to low academic attainment and unemployment in young adulthood. Methods We used nationally-representative data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE; Wave 1, age 13 N=15,770). Having a chronic condition, poor mental health and poor self-reported general health were assessed between ages 13 and 15. Outcome variables included poor academic performance (non-attainment of expected academic proficiency based on mandated school examinations) at age 16 and NEET status (not in education, employment or training) at age 19. We examined associations between health and subsequent outcomes, and conducted mediator analyses to assess the proportion of the association attributable to hypothesised mediators including school absences, classroom behaviour, truancy, social exclusion, health behaviours and psychological distress. Results Poor mental and general health and long-term conditions predicted low educational attainment at age 16. Poor mental health and poor general health (but not long-term conditions) predicted unemployment. Social exclusion was a consistent mediating variable. Long-term absences mediated associations between general health and mental health and later outcomes whereas school behaviour, truancy and substance use were significant mediators for general health and mental health. Conclusion Poor adolescent health disrupts educational and employment pathways. Due to the economic and social costs of educational underachievement and unemployment, policy interventions should focus on improving outcomes for unhealthy adolescents.

Students’ aspirations, expectations and school achievement: what really matters?

Using the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE), this study examines how different combinations of aspirations, expectations and school achievement can influence students’ future educational behaviour (applying to university at the age of 17–18). The study shows that students with either high aspirations or high expectations have higher school achievement than those with both low aspirations and low expectations. Furthermore, complete alignment between high aspirations, high expectations and high achievement is the most important predictor of future educational behaviour among students. However, it is also found that low expectations do not negatively impact students’ future behaviour when they have high aspirations accompanied with high school achievement. Additionally, the study finds significant ethnic differences in favour of white students at GCSE level, but that these differences are reversed in relation to applying to university at the age of 17–18.

How and when Do Educational Aspirations, Expectations and Achievement Align?

This paper proposes a new typology of educational aspirations, expectations and achievement. This typology is derived from combinations of aspirations, expectations and achievement, creating eight possible combinations of aligned and irregular profiles. To devise this new typology, data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) panel survey and matching administrative data from the National Pupil Database (NPD) was utilised. These data were collected in 2004 from a sample of 15,770 young people (YP) aged 13 to 14 attending 647 different schools in England. This study demonstrates that aspirations, expectations and achievement do converge amongst some students; but for most young people they do not always intersect. Many young people succeed academically, but without necessarily developing high aspirations or high expectations. For one out of every five young people, high aspirations and high expectations do not lead to academic achievement. The findings in this paper provide a distinct analytical framework for further research and policy development in this area.

Childhood psychological distress and youth unemployment: Evidence from two British cohort studies

The effect of childhood mental health on later unemployment has not yet been established. In this article we assess whether childhood psychological distress places young people at high risk of subsequent unemployment and whether the presence of economic recession strengthens this relationship. This study was based on 19,217 individuals drawn from two nationally-representative British prospective cohort studies; the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) and the National Child Development Study (NCDS). Both cohorts contain rich contemporaneous information detailing the participants' early life socioeconomic background, household characteristics, and physical health. In adjusted analyses in the LSYPE sample (N = 10,232) those who reported high levels of distress at age 14 were 2 percentage points more likely than those with low distress to be unemployed between ages 16 and 21. In adjusted analyses of the NCDS sample (N = 8985) children rated as having high distress levels by their teachers at age 7 and 11 were 3 percentage points more likely than those with low distress to be unemployed between ages 16 and 23. Our examination of the 1980 UK recession in the NCDS cohort found the difference in average unemployment level between those with high versus low distress rose from 2.6 pct points in the pre-recession period to 3.9 points in the post-recession period. These findings point to a previously neglected contribution of childhood mental health to youth unemployment, which may be particularly pronounced during times of economic recession. Our findings also suggest a further economic benefit to enhancing the provision of mental health services early in life.

Truancy and well-being among secondary school pupils in England

The paper considers two problematic aspects of the lives of young people: the long-standing issues of truancy from school and more recent concerns about the extent of mental well-being. It uses data from a large-scale survey, the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE). LSYPE provides a very large sample which allows for robust analysis of sub-groups within the population, data from families as well as the young people themselves and a panel design, so that characteristics of the young people at one point in time can be related to later outcomes. The results show the extent of truancy among year-10 pupils with well over one in five reporting truanting but high levels of truancy much less common. The reasons given for truancy mostly revolved around dislike of aspects of school. Truancy, even at low levels, was associated with more negative outcomes such as poor examination results and later unemployment. Data on mental well-being, based on the General Health Questionnaire, showed the extent of feelings of distress and inability to cope with everyday life with more serious levels affecting perhaps one in five of the young people. Young women were more likely to report problems of mental well-being than young men and truancy was strongly associated with poorer levels of well-being. The contrast between the way that most truants said that it was important to them to do well at school but also that disliking school was given as a reason for truancy suggests the possibility of school interventions.

Examining the impact of entry level qualifications on educational aspirations

Background: This article considers the impact of pupils studying for entry-level qualifications on their intentions of remaining in education. Such qualifications are intended to re-engage young people who are performing below expected levels and give them the opportunity to learn at a pace that suits them.Purpose: This article specifically attempts to estimate the impact of entry-level qualifications on a group of 14–16-year-olds approaching the end of compulsory schooling in England. The central research questions addressed in this article were; how do the aspirations and post-16 destinations of young people who have taken such qualifications compare with other similar young people who have taken more traditional qualifications, and is there any evidence of such qualifications being beneficial to those young people with lower levels of prior attainment?Sample: Roughly 10,000 students surveyed longitudinally within the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE).Design and methods: Initial data regarding the aspirations of young people was collected from the young people at age 13 or 14 in 2004. Details of the qualifications studied and achieved over the next two years were then collected from the National Pupil Database (NPD). At the end of two years, information regarding their aspirations was collected again. Data collections in subsequent years detailed whether young people had actually continued in education after the end of compulsory schooling at age 16. Multilevel modelling was used to examine the relationship between the qualifications studied by young people and their subsequent aspirations and destinations.Results: Overall, there were no differences between the outcomes of young people taking entry-level qualifications and similar young people who did not. However, the models revealed a statistically significant interaction between taking entry-level qualifications and prior attainment, suggesting a positive association between such qualifications and outcomes for those with low levels of prior attainment.Conclusions: There is some evidence that entry-level qualifications may be useful in re-engaging low-achieving young people in education.

Parental worklessness and the experience of NEET among their offspring. Evidence from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE)

This paper examines the assocations between parental worklessness and the experiences of their offspring making the transition from school to work during a time that included a major economic downturn. The study draws on data collected for the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE), a cohort of young people born in 1989/90 completing compulsory education in 2006 – just before the onset of the Great Recession. Data on parental worklessness collected between 2004 and 2006 was linked to information about subsequent employment activities of their offspring, in particular the experience of not being in education, employment or training (NEET) between 2007 and 2010 (ages 16 to 20 years). Parental worklessness was significantly associated with their sons’ and daughters’ experience of being NEET for longer periods of time (months spent in NEET). However, much of this association was explained by a number of other socio-economic risks facing these young people and their families (e.g. low parental education level, living in rented accommodation and in highly deprived neighbourhoods). Furthermore, the role of individual agency, in particular educational achievement orientation (EAO) as a potential mediator was examined. Although parental worklessness was associated with lower levels of EAO, especially among young males, the findings also suggest that EAO can serve as a potential resource for young men and women in adverse economic circumstances. The study does not support the assumption of an inter-generational transmission of a ‘culture of worklessness’ but points to the role of multiple deprivations and lack of local opportunities in shaping the life chances of young people.

Widening the participation gap: The effect of educational track on reported voting in England

This article explores the effect of tracked education in upper secondary on voting behaviour. It discusses two causal mechanisms that link tracked education to greater disparities of political participation: the curriculum and peer socialization. Data of Waves 1, 2, 5 and 7 of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) is used to assess the hypothesis that educational track has an independent effect on voting. Controlling for several pre- and post-track influences, the paper shows that students who have taken vocational courses in less prestigious schools indeed have lower reported voting levels at age 20 than those who have pursued an academic qualification (A levels) in prestigious schools. It is proposed that the effect of tracked education on political participation is likely to vary across Europe and that this variation may well be explained by differences across Europe in the extent to which the academic and vocational tracks are integrated, both in terms of the curriculum and in their social intake.