National Educational Panel Study Research Articles

Does Gender Composition in a Field of Study Matter? Gender Disparities in College Students’ Academic Self-Concepts

AbstractGendered field-of-study choice is a lively topic of discussion. The explanation usually given for the fact that women are still an exception in typically ‘male’ fields—particularly STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)—employs domain-specific stereotypes regarding men’s and women’s ‘natural’ abilities in different fields. The central argument of our study is that domain-specific gender stereotypes help explain why few women enter such fields; however, they are not necessarily the driving forces behind the finding that female students who chose typically male subjects have weaker academic self-concepts than their male peers. If it were only domain-specific gender stereotypes that influence students’ perceptions of their abilities, we should find the opposite result in typically female fields of study and no differences in gender-mixed fields. Because existing studies often focus on the male-dominated STEM domain alone, research may have drawn the wrong conclusions. By comparing students in male-dominated, female-dominated, and gender-mixed fields of study, we ask: Does gender composition in the field of study matter for gender disparities in college (university) students’ academic self-concepts? Using data from 10,425 students in the German National Educational Panel Study, our results suggest that it is not only in male-dominated fields of study that women rate their own abilities to be poorer than men rate theirs; the same is true in female-dominated and gender-mixed fields. Therefore, domain-specific gender stereotypes regarding students’ abilities do not (alone) seem to drive gender disparities in STEM students’ perception of their own abilities. No matter what academic field we consider, female students generally exhibit weaker academic self-concepts; however, the gap is most pronounced in male-dominated fields.

The gendered impact of parenthood on job-related training participation in Germany and the United Kingdom

Abstract Recent studies highlight the role of parenthood in perpetuating persistent gender inequality in the labour market. We examine whether the transition to parenthood influences job-related training participation. This study uses fixed-effects models and longitudinal data from the German National Educational Panel Study (starting cohort 6, 2010–2021) and Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study (2010–2019). Our findings show that women’s job-related training participation decreases following parenthood in both countries, but that this decline is steeper in Germany and persists beyond the early stage of parenthood. Furthermore, our mediation analysis shows that parental leave is one of the main drivers of the motherhood penalty in job-related training in both countries. In contrast, when men have a first child, it has a small negative effect on training participation levels in Germany and no effect in the United Kingdom. This study sheds light on the gendered impact of the transition to parenthood on job-related training participation and how the country context influences these relationships.

Aiming high: Learning investments in German upper secondary education. Differences between immigrant and non-immigrant youth

This article addresses important aspects of the largely unexplored interplay between high educational aspirations and low academic achievement in migratory contexts. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), I examine the determinants of learning investments of students who changed from vocational to academic tracking at the transition to upper secondary education. I also explore additional social challenges to upward track mobility that might affect immigrant students in a particular way. As educational disparities are often interpreted as a cumulative consequence of class- and migration-specific educational choices, I develop a learning investment model that explains differences in learning investments between immigrant and non-immigrant youth. I introduce the essential mechanisms of psychological motivation theory into a subjective expected utility (SEU) model, which allows for a specific examination of the relationship between educational aspirations, motivation, and learning investments. Results show that newcomers to academic tracking are more likely to invest in learning. Yet, learning investments in upward mobility processes may be influenced by the different learning environments of stratified education and by family dynamics. Here, I find differences between immigrant and non-immigrant youth. Thus, introducing motivational factors into an SEU model helps to understand when youth invest in learning.

School Entry-Age Effect on Student’s Affective–Motivational Attitudes in German Elementary Schools

AbstractThe effect of school entry age on children’s later performance is a long-debated topic without any convergence. Besides, existing studies have mostly limited themselves to examining the impact of entry age on children’s cognitive achievements. In Germany, where different entry-age regulations exist across federal states and academic tracking takes place very early, it is crucial to investigate whether these differential school entry ages affect children’s outcomes. This study, based on the longitudinal data available from the National Educational Panel Study, investigates the possible entry-age effect on children’s willingness to make an effort and their school enjoyment in the German elementary school context. The study found a positive entry-age effect only for willingness to make an effort but not for school enjoyment, and the existing entry-age effect decreases over time. Therefore, empirical evidence confirms that, in Germany, the entry-age effect persists in the short run and some child outcomes seem more sensitive to entry age than others. These are important findings in the German context where students’ academic tracking starts from lower secondary schooling and entry-age effects may significantly influence it.

Parental stress and working situation during the COVID-19 shutdown – Effects on children’s skill development

ObjectiveThis study examines whether parental emotional distress during the first pandemic-related school shutdown in 2020 in Germany affected the development of primary school students’ mathematical skills and investigates changes in parents’ working conditions as triggers of cascading stress processes. BackgroundThe Family Stress Model (FSM) explains the mechanisms that mediate between families’ structural conditions and children's developmental outcomes. Foundational works for this approach focus on historic events that instigate rapid structural changes which, in turn, undermine families' economic situation. The economic losses trigger stress processes. Research on the COVID-19 pandemic reports heightened levels of parental stress and negative impacts on children's cognitive and socioemotional development. This study examines the role of parental emotional distress during the COVID-19 shutdown on children's cognitive development. Expanding on the classical FSM, we hypothesize that changes in parents' working situation, rather than economic changes, may have triggered family stress processes during the shutdown, as federal support largely cushioned economic cutbacks in Germany. MethodFor the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), interviews were conducted with parents, and primary school students in Starting Cohort 1 were tested after the first shutdown in 2020. The database provides rich information from survey waves prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing a longitudinal analysis of a sample of 1512 primary school students with ordinary least squares regression. ResultsParents’ emotional distress during the pandemic had a robust negative effect on students’ mathematical skills, even when controlling for prior parenting stress. Changes in parents’ working conditions also had an effect on children’s test scores, and the negative effect of working from home on the test scores was mediated by parents’ emotional distress. ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic was a historic event which, at least in Germany, challenged the mental health of many parents and, in turn, impaired the skill development of primary school students. We introduce the role of changes in working conditions as triggers of such processes.

CILS4NEPS – Unlocking Research Potential Through More Participants, More Schools and International Comparison: Harmonized Data for Research on Education, School-to-work Transition and Integration Processes for Adolescents in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and England

Abstract The CILS4NEPS project combined and harmonized panel data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU) and Starting Cohort 4 of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS SC4). This unlocks additional research potential beyond the scope of both individual datasets by increasing sample sizes and enabling international comparisons of the NEPS data. Both, the combined dataset as well as additional material to reproduce and expand the harmonization are available to users. In this article, we will first introduce the individual datasets and their comparability and describe the steps of the harmonization process. Furthermore, we will present the comparable content between both surveys, the structure of the harmonized dataset, and weighting issues. Subsequently, we provide descriptive statistics, the analytical potential, and information on data access. Lastly, we will finish with an outlook on the continuing harmonization of CILS4EU and NEPS SC4.

Social Inequalities in Study Trajectories: A Comparison of the United States and Germany

Social origin affects not only access to higher education but also how students proceed through higher education. Based on the argument that an advantageous family background facilitates linear study trajectories through parents’ provision of cultural and economic resources, this article investigates study trajectories in Germany and the United States, assessing the institutional structures as an intermediating factor. We reconstruct study trajectories of bachelor-degree-seeking students using sequence analysis based on two high-quality panel data sets (U.S. Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study and the German National Educational Panel Study). The findings reveal that study trajectories are more complex overall and shaped by social origin in the United States. In both countries, study trajectories differ by higher education institution type. We conclude that not only are access pathways to higher education shaped by the institutional context of higher education systems but also that study trajectories and the disparities structured by socioeconomic background are equally institutionally embedded.

Upward track mobility into academic upper secondary education: Effects of challenging parental expectations, immigrant origin, and older siblings on students' educational choices

This study examines the social-cultural challenges of upward track mobility from vocational to academic tracking at the transition to upper secondary education in Germany. Within the highly stratified German education system, these challenges include habitual alienation from the family and milieu of origin. Using a Bourdieusian framework and data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we examine the effect of these challenges on the choices for academic upper secondary education by addressing ambivalent parental expectations regarding social upward mobility and habitual loyalty to the family. The study explores how an immigrant origin and older siblings shape perceptions of these expectations and associated challenges, and thus influence the educational choices at the transition to upper secondary education.Linear probability models (N 2866) show that ambivalent parental expectations hinder the choice for academic upper secondary education. This effect was stronger for nonimmigrant students. Older siblings reduce this negative influence for both immigrant and non-immigrant students. We extend previous literature on educational choices of immigrant and non-immigrant youth by highlighting that ambivalent parental expectations may be a barrier to upward track mobility, moderated by older siblings.

Competing explanations for inconsistent responding to a mixed-worded self-esteem scale: Cognitive abilities or personality?

In survey scale design, a mixed-worded format intends to ensure attentiveness as respondents need to take into account the wording direction when answering an item. However, some respondents tend to deliver inconsistent responses (i.e., agreeing or disagreeing with both positively and negatively-worded items), posing a validity concern. Two potential directions driving inconsistent responding have each individually been put forward: lack of cognitive abilities to effectively deal with the mixed-wording and sheer carelessness while responding. Using a factor mixture approach, we investigated inconsistent responding on Rosenberg's self-esteem scale as a function of both cognitive ability and personality. Among n = 4938 Grade 5 students from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), 11 % were classified as inconsistent respondents and class memberships were further related to four cognitive abilities (cognitive reasoning, cognitive speed, reading comprehension, reading speed) and five personality traits (conscientiousness, neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness). Model comparison results indicated that both ability and personality predictors matter with a more prominent role for ability (especially reading comprehension). We discuss the implications of these findings for mixed-wording's suitability for scale construction and different populations and how researchers can deal with suspected inconsistent respondents in their survey data.

The effectiveness of between-wave mailings and tailored material incentives on response rates: results from a young adolescent longitudinal survey

ABSTRACT Mailing campaigns are a way to keep longitudinal survey respondents engaged. While mailings usually include a survey answer request, sometimes respondents are contacted between-waves to update contact information or simply to keep respondent contact. Research on the actual impact of these between-wave contacts on response rates is scarce. This paper addresses three research questions: (1) Do between-wave campaigns impact response rate? (2) Does the addition of non-monetary incentives to between-wave campaigns further impact response rates? (3) Do between-wave campaigns also affect other members of the household? Following a one-year break between survey waves, we design a randomized survey experiment assigning respondents to five treatment conditions. Results show that keeping-in-touch mailings did not significantly increase the likelihood of an interview in the National Educational Panel Study for either children or their parents in general. However, when we focus on specific characteristics of the targets, significant differences are found.

Interests and personality matter in the choice of teacher education program

In this paper, we examined whether it is possible to predict German teacher students’ study specialization (i.e., type of school) from data on their personality (in terms of the Big Five) and vocational interests (in terms of the RIASEC model) using multinomial logistic regression. Gender and intelligence were included as control variables. Two studies are reported. The first study (N = 1,145 teacher students) took place at a German university, while Study 2 used data from the German National Education Panel Study (NEPS; data from N = 944 teacher students). In both studies, it was found that the model fit increased significantly after adding personality and vocational interests as predictors (compared with a baseline model containing only gender and intelligence as predictors). Findings show that the model of vocational interests and the Big Five personality model can be used to differentiate between teacher students with different specializations. In the long run, results like these could be used in the field of counseling to help clients who are determined to become a teacher but unsure about which specialization might be most appropriate for them.

A longitudinal analysis of health inequalities from adolescence to young adulthood and their underlying causes

Research suggests that children of low-educated parents face greater health burdens during the passage from adolescence to young adulthood, as they are more likely to become low-educated themselves, establish behavioural and psychosocial disadvantages, or being exposed to unhealthy working conditions. However, studies examining the development and drivers of health inequalities during this particular life stage are limited in number and have produced varied results. This study investigates trajectories of self-rated health and overweight from 14 to 25 years of age, stratified by parental education, and explores the role of potential mediators (educational achievement, health behaviours, psychosocial factors, working conditions). We rely on prospective cohort data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), a representative sample of 14,981 German ninth graders interviewed yearly from 2011 to 2021 (n = 90,096 person-years). First, we estimated random-effects growth curves for self-rated health and overweight over participants’ age and calculated the average marginal effect of high versus low parental education. Second, a series of simulation-based mediation analyses were performed to test how much of health inequalities were explained by children’s educational attainment (years of school education, years in university), health behaviours (smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity), psychosocial factors (number of grade repetitions, years in unemployment, chronic stress, self-esteem) and working conditions (physical and psychosocial job demands). We accounted for potential confounding by controlling for age, sex, migration background, residential area, household composition, and interview mode. Results show that higher parental education was related to higher self-rated health and lower probabilities of being overweight. Interaction between parental education and age indicated that, after some equalisation in late adolescence, health inequalities increased in young adulthood. Furthermore, educational attainment, health behaviours, psychosocial factors, and early-career working conditions played a significant role in mediating health inequalities. Of the variables examined, the level of school education and years spent in university were particular strong mediating factors. School education accounted for around one-third of the inequalities in self-rated health and one-fifth of the differences in overweight among individuals. Results support the idea that the transition to adulthood is a sensitive period in life and that early socio-economic adversity increases the likelihood to accumulate health disadvantages in multiple dimensions. In Germany, a country with comparatively low educational mobility, intergenerational continuities in class location seem to play a key role in the explanation of health inequalities in youth.

Children’s aspirations, their perceptions of parental aspirations, and parents’ factual aspirations—gaining insights into a complex world of interdependencies

Abstract Children’s educational aspirations have been shown to be highly relevant for their educational trajectories and, therefore, researchers have tried to understand how and when these aspirations are formed. The influence of parental aspirations on the development of children’s aspirations has often been the focus of such investigations in previous studies. Going beyond these earlier approaches, we address the question of how children’s aspirations might be influential for their parent’s aspirations. We also investigate if it is children’s perception of parental aspirations or parent’s factual aspirations, which play a role in the formation of children’s aspirations. This article contributes to the literature, first, on a theoretical basis, by providing a reasoned and interdisciplinary framework about mutually dependent processes of aspiration formations within families. Second, an empirical contribution is given, using data from the German National Educational Panel Study and analyzing the aspirations of 4,511 children and their parents. Our cross-lagged panel models show that children and parents influence each other in their aspirations mutually over time, with children being affected by both, the parent’s factual aspirations and the children’s perception of those. We give empirical-driven guidelines for future research on aspiration formation.

The relevance of tracking and social school composition for growing achievement gaps by parental education in lower secondary school: a longitudinal analysis in France, Germany, the United States, and England

Abstract There is substantial variation in the degree of social stratification in students’ achievement across countries. However, most research is based on cross-sectional data. In this study, we evaluate the importance of social origin, namely, parents’ education, for achievement inequalities during lower secondary school using recent longitudinal microdata form the French Direction de l’Evaluation de la Prospective et de la Performance panel, the German National Educational Panel Study, the US-American Early Childhood Longitudinal Study 1998, and the British Millennium Cohort Study. We evaluate whether country differences can be attributed to different tracking systems or the social composition of schools. We find substantial SES gaps in math achievement progress in all four countries but more pronounced gaps in England and Germany. Yet, within-school SES gaps are similar across countries suggesting that the allocation of students to schools drives country differences. Moreover, we find that between-school tracking in Germany accounts for a large share of the SES gaps, whereas course-by-course tracking seems less important in the other countries. The role of schools’ social composition is similar across countries.

Does the provision of childcare reduce motherhood penalties in job-related training participation? Longitudinal evidence from Germany

Previous studies highlight gender differences in job-related training participation, particularly in countries with few family policies supporting maternal employment. This study examines whether higher levels of state-subsidized childcare provision are positively linked to mothers’ participation in job-related training. It combines individual-level data from the National Educational Panel Study for Germany (NEPS-SC6 adult cohort, N = 5504, 2008–20) with annual administrative records on county-level childcare coverage. Results from fixed effects models provide evidence that higher childcare levels reduce the negative impact of childbirth on mothers’ job-related training participation. Nevertheless, motherhood training penalties exist even in contexts with higher childcare coverage levels, especially in West Germany. The findings highlight the importance of supporting family policies to reduce motherhood training penalties and associated gender inequalities in the labour market.

How do social and academic integration develop over time? Longitudinal analyses of differences based on students’ sociodemographic background

ABSTRACT Although social and academic integration are considered significant predictors of academic success, little is known about their longitudinal development. In addition, cross-sectional research indicates differences in the integration process based on the sociodemographic background of students, but lacks longitudinal confirmation, especially in Germany. This research gap was addressed by examining students’ integration across three years with measures at four time points (N = 4270) based on data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) in Germany. Longitudinal growth curve analyses were conducted considering interindividual differences between four groups: first-generation students with and without a migration background, and continuing-generation students with and without a migration background. Differences in students’ social and academic integration, measured by several sub-dimensions, partly supported expected advantages for students from academic backgrounds without a migration background, both at the first time point and regarding the longitudinal development. Nevertheless, these differences were small and partly accompanied by non-significant findings highlighting similarities across students. Assumptions about differences between students and implications for future research on the longitudinal development of student integration are discussed.

Social events, bridging courses, and academic skills trainings – participation in first-year courses and higher education dropout in Germany

ABSTRACT Despite the substantial efforts made by higher education institutions to reduce dropout rates, a considerable proportion of students still discontinues their initial study program. In view of this situation, the present study aims to investigate whether participation in first-year courses for personal and academic support goes along with a decreased risk of student dropout, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. We draw on data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS, student cohort) and apply mediation analysis based on event history models and linear regression models for students in the fields of mathematics/natural sciences and humanities. Our findings reveal that participation in social events for students in both subject groups and academic skills trainings for students in mathematics/ natural sciences is associated with a lower risk of student dropout, which is, partially, mediated by increased social integration. Attendants of bridging courses (often also referred to as summer bridge programs) do not have a lower risk of higher education dropout than students who did not participate. The results highlight the need for comprehensive evaluations of course effectiveness and a more frequently offering of academic skills trainings in STEM subjects.

High hopes but aiming low? Explaining why some families with high educational aspirations do not choose the academic track in German secondary education

Selecting a school track after primary schooling is an early and highly influential decision families have to make in the German educational system. Usually, families with high educational aspirations choose the academic track since it is the direct pathway to higher education eligibility, yet there are families selecting another track. Explaining this decision is highly relevant since it is known that other tracks can divert aspirations away from the initial high goals, resulting in overall lower educational achievements. The present study analyzes the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) dataset to investigate predictors of academic track selection (N > 1500). As dominance analyses show, the overall share of variance that all factors can explain is relatively low (ca. 13%), and only the teacher recommendation and the federal state of residence contribute meaningfully to this total share. Overall, it remains unclear what drives the decision, and other explanatory approaches should be investigated.

The Role of School Context Factors for Gender Role Attitudes: General and Differential Associations Between Female and Male Adolescents

During adolescence, socialization of gender role attitudes (GRA) shifts from parents to peers, friends, and classmates; thus, it takes place primarily in the school context. Accordingly, previous studies identified school-related factors associated to adolescents’ GRA. However, little is known about the relative importance of these factors as well as about the factors’ differences between females’ and males’ GRA. This study investigates the relevance of several school factors on adolescents’ GRA and gender differences. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study ( N = 10,866), the results show that attending a higher educational school type, higher classmates’ socio-economic background, lower proportion of female classmates, and more egalitarian classmates’ GRA are related to more individual egalitarian GRA. Furthermore, the relation between classmates’ GRA and individual GRA is more pronounced for males than females. The study further discusses starting points for possible interventions.

The Digitalization Boost of the Covid‐19 Pandemic and Changes in Job Quality

The Covid‐19 pandemic caused a digitalization boost, mainly through the rise of telework. Even before the pandemic, advancing digital transformation restructured the way of working and thereby changed the quality of jobs—albeit at a different pace across occupations. With data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we examine how job quality and the use of digital technologies changed during the first pandemic year in different occupations. Building on this, we analyze change score models to investigate how increased workplace digitalization connects to changes in selected aspects of employees’ subjective job quality. We find only a weak association between the digitalization boost in different occupational fields and the overall decrease in subjective job quality. However, telework—as one aspect of digitalization—is connected to a smaller decrease in work–family reconciliation and conformable working hours. Thus, it may buffer some detrimental pandemic effects on job quality. In addition, telework is connected to increased information overload, creating a new burden for specific employee groups.