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Is ‘first in family’ a good indicator for widening university participation?

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  • Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna
  • Henderson, Morag
  • Shure, Nikki

Abstract

Universities use ‘first in family’ or ‘first generation’ as an indicator to increase the diversity of their student intake, but little is known about whether it is a good indicator of disadvantage. We use nationally representative, longitudinal survey data linked to administrative data from England to provide the first comprehensive analysis of this measure. We employ parametric probability (logit) and non-parametric classification (random forest) models to look at its relative predictive power of university participation and graduation. We find that being first in family is an important barrier to university participation and graduation, over and above other sources of disadvantage. This association seems to operate through the channel of early educational attainment. Our findings indicate that the first in family indicator could be key in efforts to widen participation at universities.

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  • Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna & Henderson, Morag & Shure, Nikki, 2020. "Is ‘first in family’ a good indicator for widening university participation?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:78:y:2020:i:c:s0272775720305240
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102038
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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Adamecz & Morag Henderson & Nikki Shure, 2024. "Intergenerational educational mobility – The role of non-cognitive skills," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 59-78, January.
    2. Anna Adamecz-Völgyi & Morag Henderson & Nikki Shure, 2023. "The labor market returns to “first-in-family” university graduates," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1395-1429, July.
    3. Edwards, Rebecca & Gibson, Rachael & Harmon, Colm & Schurer, Stefanie, 2022. "First-in-their-family students at university: Can non-cognitive skills compensate for social origin?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Annadurai, Gopinath & Sahoo, Soham, 2025. "Improving First-Generation College Students’ Education and Employment Outcomes: Effects of a Targeted Scholarship Program," IZA Discussion Papers 17879, IZA Network @ LISER.
    5. Adler, Katharina & Kosse, Fabian & Nagler, Markus & Rincke, Johannes, 2025. "Earnings expectations of “First-in Family” university students and their role for major choice," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna & Henderson, Morag & Shure, Nikki, 2020. "Is ‘first in family’ a good indicator for widening university participation?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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