Thanks to Pedro De Bruyckere, I learned about a recent study titled The influence of socioeconomic status on changes in young people’s expectations of applying to university (it’s not behind a paywall!).

It’s findings will come as no surprise to anyone connected to education, though its preciseness, it seems to me, is interesting and could be useful when trying to generate support to do something about it.

Here’s an excerpt:

Unfortunately, the paper offers zero ideas about how to combat this challenge. It does, however, link to this paper (also not behind a paywall), which does make a few suggestions.

That paper suggests parent engagement, mentoring, and extra-curricular activities but, more importantly, emphasizes that it’s critical to get to students before their expectations begin to dip and then maintain consistent support through the rest of high school. In other words, “one-and-done” programs and little pep rallies won’t do the trick.

It is interesting to me that the study targeted the ages of 14 through 17 as the key times these negative or positive shifts occur. In a related piece of info, Prof. James Heckman Says Adolescence Is Key Time To Teach (& Learn About) Self-Control & Perseverance.

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