Role Of Family Background Research Articles

Differing patterns of employment for university students: the role of family background, educational choices and access to benefits

ABSTRACT Student employment is on the increase in many European countries. It takes many forms, from full-time employment to various types of flexible work, which involves short-term, non-standard and informal work. Despite its relevance and complexity, the connection between higher education and concurrent employment has been only partially explored in scholarly debate. This paper investigates the differing patterns of employment for university students, focusing on the role played by parental background, educational choices (i.e. field of study and residential status) and access to benefits. The analyses apply to the Italian higher education system and are based on data collected through a survey carried out among students enrolled at the University of Bologna, which has a highly developed student grant system and a large number of away from home students. Using multinomial logistic regression, the paper shows that students native of Bologna from lower socio-economic backgrounds and enrolled in the humanities and social sciences are more likely than their peers to be in employment. The findings on Right to Study are hence particularly important from a policy perspective, as they highlight the different roles that scholarships and tuition fee waivers play in employment choices whilst at university.

The Role of Family Background and Education in shaping inequalities. Evidence from the Spanish regions

Family background characteristics and educational resources are crucial in shaping individuals’ income and therefore a potential source of income inequality and inequality of opportunity. This article analyses inequalities in the Spanish diverse regions using data from the European Survey of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). Along this article we analyse the relevance of family background characteristics in shaping individuals’ opportunities as well as the role education plays in income inequality. Our findings show that family background characteristics are of great importance in shaping individuals’ performance and opportunities of achieving a certain level of income, well-being and education; also, educational variables at regional level, such as the education expenditure per student, are highly correlated to the levels of inequality. In view of the results, it would be advisable to implement public policies targeting vulnerable groups to ensure equal opportunities and invest in education given its potential as equalizer of income inequality.

Adolescence Mental Health Disorders and Precarious School-to- Work Trajectories: The Role of Family Background and Gender

This article investigates the role of family socio-economic status (SES) as a buffer for adolescents with mental health disorders (MHDs) against entering precarious school-to-work trajectories. We follow a cohort born in Norway in 1992 from the age of 16–25 using data from administrative registers. We find that externalizing disorders, to a higher degree than internalizing disorders (registered in the 16–18 age range), are associated with subsequent precarious school-to-work trajectories (measured from January 2011 to December 2017) for both genders. In boys, high family SES seems to buffer the negative impact of externalizing disorders on entering precarious school-to-work trajectories, but not for internalizing disorders. In contrast, in girls, high-SES families partly buffer the negative impact of internalizing disorders, but not for externalizing disorders. Thus, this paper broadens the current perspective on how the impact of MHDs on entering school-to-work trajectories is interrelated with social class and gender.

Social differentiation in career decision-making processes and higher education intentions: the role of family background and school composition in the use of different sources of information

ABSTRACT The way in which young people’s post-school intentions and pathways reflect their social background has been the subject of a good deal of research. However, much less attention has been paid to social differentiation in the amount and kind of career guidance information received by young people and its role in reinforcing or ameliorating social differentiation in transitions. This article contributes by examining the extent to which sources of information and guidance activities vary by social background and school social mix and the consequences of this variation for intentions to go on to higher education. The paper draws on data from a large-scale longitudinal study of young people in Ireland, the Growing Up in Ireland study. It finds that young people from more advantaged backgrounds are much more reliant on their parents as a source of information and advice, reflecting access to insider knowledge of the educational system, and are more likely to pay for private guidance services. In contrast, young people from less advantaged backgrounds and those attending schools with a concentration of working-class students are more reliant on school-based sources of information, though these resources are insufficient to boost their chances of making the transition to higher education.

Inequality of Opportunity: Unobserved Factors in Empirical Research.

The information base of empirical research in the field of inequality of opportunity is discussed. It is shown that the information base is incomplete since many circumstances and efforts remain unobserved, creating an underestimation. The role of family background is studied, including such factors as the integrity of the parental family, the number of siblings, and the psychological atmosphere in the parental family. It is found that the factor of family integrity has a significant impact on estimates for inequality of opportunity.

Perceived ethnic discrimination and school connectedness among adolescents in Finland: Role of family background and sex

The study investigates the effect of immigrant background and sex on perceived ethnic discrimination and school connectedness in Finland. An online questionnaire was completed by 1,827 adolescents (12-19 years of age) from both Finnish and Swedish speaking schools in Western Finland. Adolescents’ family background was categorized as either native, multicultural, or immigrant. Perceived ethnic discrimination was examined according to its source, whether it acted out by peers, by teachers, or by someone else. Adolescents with an immigrant background were found to have higher scores of perceived ethnic discrimination regardless of its source, and lower school connectedness than other groups. Boys had higher scores of perceived ethnic discrimination by peers and by someone else, and they also reported higher school connectedness than girls. There was also a significant interaction effect between immigrant background and student sex, so that girls with a multicultural background experienced higher levels of discrimination by peers and discrimination by someone else than boys with a multicultural background.

Social inequalities in early childhood competences, and the relative role of social and emotional versus cognitive skills in predicting adult outcomes

This study draws on the nationally representative British Birth Cohort Study (BCS70) to examine (1) the association between social background and early socio‐emotional and cognitive competences at age 5 and (2) the relative and independent contributions of early socio‐emotional and cognitive competences to educational and socio‐economic attainment in adulthood. A multi‐dimensional (multiple exposure, multiple outcome) approach is adopted in conceptualising social background, childhood competences and adult outcomes by age 42. Indicators of social background include parental education, social class, employment status, family income, as well as home ownership, enabling us to test which aspects of socio‐economic risk uniquely influence the development of early competences. Indicators of childhood competences include directly assessed cognitive competences (i.e. verbal and visual motor skills), while measures of socio‐emotional competences include hyperactivity, good conduct, emotional health and social skills, reported by the child’s mother at age 5. Adult outcomes include highest qualifications, social class and household income by age 42. The findings suggest that multiple indicators of social background are associated with both socio‐emotional and cognitive competences, although the associations with socio‐emotional competences are less strong than those with cognitive competences. We find significant long‐term predictive effects of early cognitive skills on adult outcomes, but also independent effects of socio‐emotional competences, in particular self‐regulation, over and above the role of family background. The study supports calls for early interventions aiming to reduce family socio‐economic risk exposure and supporting the development of cognitive skills and self‐regulation (i.e. reducing hyperactivity and conduct problems).

Formal instruction vs informal exposure. What matters more for teenagers’ acquisition of English as a second language?

ABSTRACT This paper provides a comparative analysis of the drivers of English Language Competence (ELC) in a representative sample of European adolescents. School factors – such as English instruction time and English onset – are found to play an important role, especially in countries whose official languages are more distant from English. However, schools do not fully compensate for disparities in ELC. Gender, parental education and parental socioeconomic status are strongly associated with students’ ELC. Particularly, girls and children from more privileged social backgrounds show systematically higher ELC, even net of school factors and reading ability in their own country language. The role of family background is stronger in countries with languages that are more distant from English, suggesting that family resources are needed more when the skills are more difficult to acquire elsewhere. Finally, informal English exposure through media and cultural products is strongly and positively associated with ELC. This holds true in countries with both high and low linguistic distance from English, suggesting that schools should promote more informal English learning to increase overall ELC and reduce social disparities.

THE ROLE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS

Education is the process of socialization that enhances the ability of the individuals to help them survive peacefully and productively in the society. In Pakistan, both public and private sector schools are working hard in the provision of quality education. Private schools strive to perform well as compared to the public sector schools and started to claim that they have better school facilities and academic performances of their students are also better. Their claims of providing quality education has become a debatable topic for educationalists and social scientists across the country. Keeping in view the same context, the current study was conducted in Tehsil Batkhela of District Malakand in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The aim of this research was to compare the facilities in public and private schools with reference to the provision of quality education. Through multi-stage cluster sampling two public and two private schools were randomly selected at secondary levels. From each school, 25 students were selected in both 9th and 10th class. Three dimensional data were collected; (a) form the administration of the schools about available facilities (b) from selected samples regarding their family background and (c) surprise tests were also conducted to measure the educational performances of sampled students. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied. The results showed that facilities of the public schools were the same or somewhat better but the educational performances of private schools were better. Further, it was found that schools’ facilities were not having a major role in better educational performances of students rather the role of family background and engagement in tuition after school hours were found as responsible factors. Keywords: Education, public and private schools, facilities in school, quality education, academic performance

Relationships among Teachers’ Formal and Informal Positions and Their Incoming Student Composition

Background/Context While some commentators view education as a social mobility mechanism, many scholars argue that schools reproduce rather than challenge social inequality. A vast literature on the role of family background and educational stratification identifies various factors that help account for how schools contribute to reproducing social inequality. Over the past quarter century local, state, and federal policymakers, motivated at least partially by widening race- and class-based achievement gaps, have used standards and high stakes accountability to hold schools accountable for student performance. But the available evidence on the efficacy of these policy instruments in reducing the role of schools in social stratification is mixed. Purpose/Objective This study examines how student assignment to elementary school classrooms is conditioned by teachers’ formal positions and intra-school social networks. We focus on the allocation of teachers to students; teachers are the major resource a school can allocate to influence educational opportunities. Population/Participants Data for this analysis are drawn from a larger study of school leadership and management in one public school district in the southeastern United States. In the 2006–2007 school year, the Cloverville district served 33,156 students, including 16,214 students at its 30 elementary schools. The final sample for our study included 309 teachers with at least 10 students, not including kindergarten and first grade students, in self-contained classrooms across 29 elementary schools in 2007 (one school was removed from the sample due to low response rates). Research Design This study is a longitudinal observational study that includes social network data and multiple regression analysis. We surveyed faculty two times in waves conducted in 2007 and 2008. Data Collection and Analysis The primary source of data was a survey that asked teachers to identify colleagues who provided them with advice and information about reading and mathematics instruction. The dependent variables in our analyses were class average language arts achievement in the spring of 2006, class average mathematics achievement in the spring of 2006, and class average free or reduced price lunch in the spring of 2006. We fit multiple regressions to estimate the extent to which non-random assignment of students to teachers was a function of teachers’ formal leadership positions and their collegial networks. Findings/Results We found teachers who provided more advice and information to their colleagues and who occupied formal leadership positions were assigned higher achieving students. Further, teachers who occupied formal leadership positions were less likely to be assigned students who received free or reduced price lunch. Conclusions/Recommendations Our study findings provide strong evidence that teachers who have more prominent positions in the formal organization of the school and in informal networks are assigned stronger students. Such non-random assignment of students to teachers can contribute to educational stratification.

Is university education worth the investment? The expectations of upper secondary school seniors and the role of family background

This study assesses students’ expectations about the profitability of the investment in university education. We consider Italy as a test case and provide fresh high-quality data on students’ expectations concerning the costs, economic returns and chances of success of this investment. These are compared with data on the corresponding actual values. We find that the estimates provided by upper secondary school seniors are highly inaccurate, highly uncertain and systematically biased. Students overestimate the returns to university degrees, while they are over-pessimistic regarding university costs and drop-out risks. These results confirm previous studies on perceived university costs, but they challenge the dominant view that students can realistically forecast graduate earnings. We trace this discrepancy to two methodological shortcomings of several previous studies on expected graduate earnings. Moreover, we find that information barriers are not equally distributed among social groups. High-status students overestimate the economic returns to university more, and they are more optimistic regarding their chances of success in Higher Education, even after allowing for their higher objective returns and chances of success. Our interpretation of the importance of information barriers focuses on the interaction between cognitive biases and institutional constraints.

Employment instability and economic crisis in Spain: what are the elements that make a difference in the trajectories of younger adults?

ABSTRACTThe article analyses the factors that have had a differential effect on the labour trajectories of individuals up to 40 years old during the economic and employment crisis in Spain. To this end, the study specifically examines labour trajectories in the period 2007–2011 using data from a longitudinal panel for Catalonia. First, it uses cluster analysis to classify the types of labour trajectory that were developed by the population aged under 40. Second, it uses a multinomial logit model to distinguish the individual, sectoral and familial characteristics influencing the development of a particular trajectory. The results show the importance of traditional lines of segmentation of the Spanish labour market, such as age and gender. However, they also highlight the importance of variables associated to social background (parents’ educational level and occupation). It is concluded that the factors linked to the different types of labour trajectories are similar to those identified in the literature for previous periods, although the role of family background seems to be more important than in the past, especially in trajectories marked by temporary employment.

Family background and educational path of Italian graduates

In this paper, we analyse social inequalities along the horizontal dimension of education in Italy. More precisely, we focus on the role of family background in completing specific fields of study at both secondary and tertiary levels of education. To mitigate the limitations of the traditional sequential model, we construct a typology of educational paths based on two axes: the prestige of one’s choice of high school track (academic or vocational) and the labour market returns of the university field of study in terms of monthly net income (high or low). We identify four paths: academic-high, academic-low, vocational-high, and vocational-low. We investigate the influence of social inequalities on educational path using data from the Istat “Survey on the transition to work of University graduates” regarding cohorts of university graduates in 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2007. Results obtained from multinomial logistic regressions confirm predictions based on rational action theory. We find that family background, defined in terms of parental education, is positively and significantly associated with the completion of the most advantageous educational path. Moreover, we find that high-performing students from lower socio-economic backgrounds show a higher probability of completing the vocational-high path. This result suggests that a vocational upper secondary degree could be perceived as a sort of safety option for students from less wealthy families, which allows them to invest in the most lucrative and risky fields at university.

Determinants of Educational Attainments Among Muslims in Kerala: Role of Family Background and Gender

This research investigates how well the following factors; fathers’ education, mothers’ education, fathers’ occupation, parents’ income and gender explains the variations in educational attainment of children in the Muslim community in Kerala. The analysis used data from 431 randomly selected Muslim respondents, 231 males and 200 females, aged 25-40 years from 24 election wards of 10 panchayats and one municipality. Respondents aged 25-40 years were selected from the socio-economic caste census 2011 data. A multinomial logistic model is fitted to a dependent variable measuring level of education into four categories. The result showed that all the factors were significantly predicting the educational attainment of children except parental income.

Role of Family Background, Student Behaviors, and School-Related Beliefs in Predicting High School Dropout

ABSTRACTThe authors' purpose was to test a parsimonious model derived from social cognitive career theory (R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 1994) and expectancy value theory (J. S. Eccles & A. Wigfield, 2002) that integrates groups of variables (demographic background, student behaviors, and school-related beliefs) with the goal of predicting high school dropout in a nationally representative sample of 15,753 high school students. Structural equation modeling was used to test the effect of the various predictors on students' dropout status 2 years later. The model fit the data very well, and the results indicated that socioeconomic status, academic performance, parental involvement, and absenteeism were most predictive of high school dropout. In contrast, social cognitive constructs (self-efficacy and subjective task value) added little explanatory power. Implications for high school dropout prevention programs are discussed.

The role of family background and school resources on elementary school students’ mathematics achievement

This article compares the effects of family background and school resources on fourth-grade students’ math achievement, using data from the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In order to ameliorate potential floor effects, it uses relative risk and population attributable risk to examine the effects of family background and low levels of school resources. Four findings stand out: (1) the percentage of vulnerable students decreases as GDP increases, but this relationship weakens at higher levels of GDP; (2) the relative risk associated with low socioeconomic status is positively related to GDP, but the relative risk associated with low school resources is unrelated to GDP; (3) the population attributable risk associated with some of the family and school risk factors tends to fall with rising GDP, but varies considerably amongst countries; and (4) family background effects are stronger than school resource effects in low- and high-income countries.

Who Gets the Top Jobs? The Role of Family Background and Networks in Recent Graduates’ Access to High-status Professions

AbstractThere is currently debate in policy circles about access to ‘the upper echelons of power’ (Sir John Major, ex Prime Minister, 2013). This research explores the relationship between family background and early access to top occupations. We find that privately educated graduates are a third more likely to enter into high-status occupations than state educated graduates from similarly affluent families and neighbourhoods, largely due to differences in educational attainment and university selection. We find that although the use of networks cannot account for the private school advantage, they provide an additional advantage and this varies by the type of top occupation that the graduate enters.

The role of schools in bridging within-school achievement gaps based on socioeconomic status: a cross-national comparative study

Since the publication of the Coleman report in 1966, research on the role of schools in influencing student achievement relative to the role of family background has generated considerable interest and controversy. A large volume of international and comparative research has also been devoted to studying school effects on student achievement. Relatively few studies have examined international differences in the importance of schools in bridging achievement gaps based on socioeconomic status (SES). Using PISA 2012 data, this study examines the role of schools in bridging within-school SES gaps in achievement and compares findings across 61 countries. Contrary to prior research, we find that schools may have limited ability in bridging SES gaps that exist within schools. We also find that across all countries included in the study, specific factors such as the school’s learning environment and school context are not systematically associated with within-school SES gaps.

Overqualification of Graduates: Assessing the Role of Family Background

Overqualification of Graduates: Assessing the Role of Family Background

Entrepreneurial Intention in Doing Information- Related Business and Comparison on Gender, Family, Discipline of Study and Family Income

The objective of this study is to identify the level of students' entrepreneurial intention in doing information-related business and to compare the entrepreneurial intention between gender, role of family background, discipline of study and family income. Using a quantitative approach of study, questionnaires were distributed randomly to 175 postgraduate students of Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. The finding revealed that students were quite positive towards their intention in doing information-related business. The mean score was highest for ＂I will make every effort to start and run my own information-related business＂ (mean=3.32) followed by ＂If I had the opportunity and resources, I’d like to start an informationrelated business＂ (3.29). However there was no evidence of difference regarding entrepreneurial intention between gender, role of family background, discipline of study and family income. The finding of this study will be useful to the management of Faculty of Information Management, other academic institutions and educators to design the entrepreneurship course for university students.