Schoon, I; (2009) Changing Educational Aspirations in Three UK Cohorts: The Role of Gender, Parental Education, and Encouragement. International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD) Bulletin , 55 (1) pp. 14-18.

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Abstract

Educational expectations of young people reflect their subjective assessment of how far in the education system they would like to go. They can help to chart a life course, provide direction for spending time and energy during the school years, and are one of the strongest predictors of future educational and occupational attainments ( Elder, 1994; Schoon, 2007; Schoon, Martin, & Ross, 2007; Schoon & Parsons, 2002; Sewell & Hauser, 1975). Since the 1970’s young people have become more ambitious in their expectations regarding further education, and more young people aim to participate in higher education, once the preserve of a privileged minority (Schneider & Stevenson, 1999; Schoon, 2006). In the following changes in educational expectations will be assessed using data collected for three UK longitudinal studies, following the lives of over 30,000 young people born in 1958, 1970 and in 1989/90 respectively. The research described below is intended to give an example of the ongoing work at the Institute of Education, and to illustrate the unique potential of the UK cohort data for the study of lives over time, for comparative research, and the study of social change. To gain a better understanding of how and why young people’s educational expectations have shifted over time, three major influences on educational expectations will be examined here: gender, parental education and parental expectations for their children. One explanation for rising educational expectations of young people is that girls have become more ambitious and optimistic about their future, reflecting increasing gender equality in school and the workplace (Fan & Marini, 2000; Mickelson, 1989). Another explanation refers to the social backgrounds of students, which have changed Changing Educational Expectations in three UK cohorts over time (Goyette, 2008). As parents of students are themselves more educated the educational expectations of their offspring are assumed to have changed. Another related explanation concerns changing parental expectations for their children (Eccles, Jacobs, & Harold, 1990; Reynolds & Woodham-Burge, 2007; Schoon, 2006).

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