Lost in Transition: The Influence of Locus of Control on Delaying Educational Decisions

Katharina Jaik () and Stefan Wolter

No 118, Economics of Education Working Paper Series from University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW)

Abstract: The transition from compulsory schooling to upper-secondary education is a crucial and frequently difficult step in the educational career of young people. In this study, we analyze the impact of one non-cognitive skill, locus of control, on the intention and the decision to delay the transition into post-compulsory education in Switzerland. We find that locus of control, measured at ages 13–14, has a significant impact on the intention to delay the transition into upper-secondary education. Furthermore, we find that the intention to delay the transition is strongly correlated with the actual delay, measured one and a half years after the intention. Finally, students with the initial intention to delay but successfully continuing into upper-secondary education show a stronger internal locus of control than comparable students who do delay their transition.

Keywords: Locus of control; school-to-school transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 17 pages
Date: 2016-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-edu, nep-eur and nep-neu
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

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http://repec.business.uzh.ch/RePEc/iso/leadinghouse/0118_lhwpaper.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Lost in Transition: The Influence of Locus of Control on Delaying Educational Decisions (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iso:educat:0118

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