Educational outcomes: the impact of aspirations and the role of student background characteristics

Abstract

Current educational reforms and targets, such as increasing higher-level qualifications amongst the working-age population, are reliant on improving the educational outcomes of people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This paper follows on from previous research, which has shown that educational aspirations are strong predictors of educational outcomes, including Year 12 and tertiary participation. The focus of the paper is to understand the relationships between student background characteristics, educational aspirations and educational outcomes.

The researchers set out to determine whether student background factors, such as socioeconomic status (SES) and Indigenous status, only affect educational outcomes via their indirect effect on educational aspirations. They also examine whether aspirations have the same effect on educational outcomes for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds as those who are not from disadvantaged backgrounds. The analysis is based on data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), which collects information on aspirations at age 15 years via questions on intentions to complete Year 12 and post-school study plans.