Can Perceived Returns Explain Enrollment Gaps in Postgraduate Education?

Teodora Boneva, Marta Golin and Christopher Rauh

Cambridge Working Papers in Economics from Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge

Abstract: To understand students' motives in obtaining postgraduate qualifications, we elicit intentions to pursue postgraduate education and beliefs about its returns in a sample of 1,002 university students. We find large gaps in perceptions about the immediate and later-life benefits of postgraduate education, both between first- and continuing-generation students and within the latter group. Differences in student beliefs about returns can account for 70% of the socioeconomic gaps in intentions to pursue postgraduate studies. We document large differences in students' current undergraduate experiences by socioeconomic background and find these to be predictive of perceived returns to postgraduate education.

Keywords: Higher education; beliefs; socioeconomic inequality; intergenerational mobility; postgraduate education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 I26 J13 J24 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-05-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-eur and nep-lab
Note: cr542
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Can perceived returns explain enrollment gaps in postgraduate education? (2022)
Working Paper: Can Perceived Returns Explain Enrollment Gaps in Postgraduate Education? (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cam:camdae:2140

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