Raising aspirations and higher education: evidence from the UK’s Widening Participation policy

Lucia Rizzica

No 1188, Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) from Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area

Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between aspirations and inequality in higher education participation. Using a regression discontinuity design, I evaluate the impact of a nationwide UK policy aimed at raising aspirations towards college education in pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds by involving them in outreach activities. I find that the policy successfully raised the aspirations of the target students and their participation in post compulsory education. However, its final effect on college enrolment was negligible overall and appears concentrated among students from the most affluent families and those in the central part of the ability distribution.

Keywords: aspirations; tertiary education; evaluation of education reform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H52 I24 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-eur
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1188_18

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