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Is 'first in family' a good indicator for widening university participation?

Adamecz-Volgyi, A; Henderson, M; Shure, D; (2020) Is 'first in family' a good indicator for widening university participation? Economics of Education Review , 78 , Article 102038. 10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102038. Green open access

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Abstract

Universities use ‘first in family’ or ‘first generation’ as an indicator to increase the diversity of their student intake, but little is known about whether it is a good indicator of disadvantage. We use nationally representative, longitudinal survey data linked to administrative data from England to provide the first comprehensive analysis of this measure. We employ parametric probability (logit) and non-parametric classification (random forest) models to look at its relative predictive power of university participation and graduation. We find that being first in family is an important barrier to university participation and graduation, over and above other sources of disadvantage. This association seems to operate through the channel of early educational attainment. Our findings indicate that the first in family indicator could be key in efforts to widen participation at universities.

Type: Article
Title: Is 'first in family' a good indicator for widening university participation?
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102038
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102038
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10107694
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