This study investigated how and why individuals chose various post-high
school destinations. Theoretical frameworks based on Härnqvists (1978)
conceptualization of the determinants of educational choice, rational choice theory
as depicted by Elster (1986, 1989a, 1989b), and Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice (1977c,
1979, 1986, 1990b) were used to examine 1) the complex of individual and
institutional influences of educational choice, 2) the processes underlying the
decisions people made in choosing whether or not to pursue a post-secondary
education, and 3) how students in the midst of the transition from high school to
various post-high school destinations perceived these processes. Central to these
analyses are the concepts of cultural capital, primary and secondary social capital,
beliefs about and dispositions toward post-secondary education, academic capital,
and enabling capital in relation to post-high school status.
This research, conducted in British Columbia, has undertaken two kinds of
examination: 1) the exploration of choices made by a large sample of recent high
school graduates (n5345), as reported on a survey questionnaire and enriched by
corresponding Ministry of Education linked data and 2) two sets of intensive,
focused interviews conducted with a sample of Grade 12 students (n51) who were
in the process of making choices about post-high school destinations.
Three different types of analyses were conducted to explore the choice
process. First, discrirninant function analyses were carried out to determine which
individual and institutional determinants of educational choice, as depicted by
Härnqvist, best predicted post-high school group membership (non-participant,
non-university participant, university participant). Second, structural equation
modelling using LISREL VI was employed to unravel the processes, as depicted in
a model of Post-high School Status, that led to differential group membership.
Finally, interviews with Grade 12 students were carried out to explore students
perceptions of these processes.
In the first discrirninant analysis, non-participants and participants in postsecondary
education comprised the dichotomous grouping variable. Employing the
variables included in Härnqvists framework, 74% of the non-participants and 79%
of the participants could be correctly classified into their respective groups. The
most powerful predictor was curricular differentiation, followed by level of
education expected, total number of awards received, and primary social capital
(parental influence variables). In a second discriminant analysis with non-
university and university participants as the grouping variable, and based on the
same set of predictors, the type of post-secondary institution attended was correctly
predicted for 81% of university participants and 75% of non-university participants.
High school grade point average most strongly predicted group membership,
followed by curricular differentiation and level of education expected. Primary
social capital (parental influence variables) or secondary social capital (influence of
school personnel and peers) were not useful predictors in this analysis. In a three
group discriminant analysis (non-participant, non-university participant, and
university participant), the first function distinguished among these three groups
on academic capital variables, disposition variables, and parents as sources of
cultural capital, and the second discriminant function distinguished among the
groups on primary and secondary social capital variables and number of academic
awards received. Based on Härnqvist’s schema, 81% of university participants, 50%
of non-university participants, and 67% of non-participants were correctly
classified. Analyses by gender were also reported for each discriminant analysis.
In the second type of analysis, a theoretical model of Post-high School Status
was tested using LISREL VI. Strong positive relationships were demonstrated to
exist between academic capital and post-high school status, and between
dispositions toward post-secondary education and academic capital, for both males
and females. The effect of parents as sources of cultural capital on dispositions
toward post-secondary education was moderate, for both males and females. The
total effects of parental transmission of cultural and social capital on post-high
school destinations was significant. In these analyses, 58% of the variance in post-
high school destination for the male sample and 54% of the variance for the female
sample was explained.
In the third analysis, the processes of educational choice were further
explored through interviews with Grade 12 students. Of particular theoretical
interest were differences in students’ long term dispositions toward post-secondary
education, beliefs about post-secondary education, and how parents as sources of
primary social capital enabled their children to pursue higher education.
It was concluded that the treatment of two disparate strands of thinking
(rational choice theory and Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice) as complementary rather
than competing provide a coherent account of how students made choices about
post-high school destinations. The theoretical frameworks developed for this study
hold potential as a first step in revitalizing the investigation of equality of
educational opportunity. Implications for further research, theory development,
and policy directions are offered.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/3489 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Andres, Lesley |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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