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Explaining the socio-economic status school completion gap

Author

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  • Cain Polidano
  • Barbara Hanel
  • Hielke Buddelmeyer

Abstract

Relatively low rates of school completion among students from low socio-economic backgrounds is a key driver of intergenerational inequality. Linking data from the Programme for International Student Assessment with data from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth, we use a decomposition framework to explain the gap in school completion rates by socio-economic status (SES). The two most important contributing factors are found to be lower educational aspirations of low SES students and their parents and lower numeracy and reading test scores at age 15. Differences in school characteristics by SES are estimated to be relatively unimportant.

Suggested Citation

  • Cain Polidano & Barbara Hanel & Hielke Buddelmeyer, 2013. "Explaining the socio-economic status school completion gap," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 230-247, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:edecon:v:21:y:2013:i:3:p:230-247
    DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2013.789482
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of the Economics of Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 4, June.
    2. Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), 2006. "Handbook of the Economics of Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1, June.
    3. Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), 2006. "Handbook of the Economics of Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Maleen Z. Gong & Nava Subramaniam, 2020. "Principal leadership style and school performance: mediating roles of risk management culture and management control systems use in Australian schools," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(3), pages 2427-2466, September.
    2. Polidano, Cain & Tabasso, Domenico, 2013. "Making It Real: The Benefits of Workplace Learning in Upper-Secondary VET Courses," IZA Discussion Papers 7633, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Philipp Lergetporer & Katharina Werner & Ludger Woessmann, 2018. "Does Ignorance of Economic Returns and Costs Explain the Educational Aspiration Gap? Evidence from Representative Survey Experiments," CESifo Working Paper Series 7000, CESifo.
    4. Katharina Werner, 2019. "The Role of Information for Public Preferences on Education – Evidence from Representative Survey Experiments," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 82, April.
    5. Tommaso Agasisti & Patrizia Falzetti, 2017. "Between-classes sorting within schools and test scores: an empirical analysis of Italian junior secondary schools," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 64(1), pages 1-45, March.
    6. Jerrim, John & Lopez-Agudo, Luis Alejandro & Marcenaro-Gutierrez, Oscar D. & Shure, Nikki, 2017. "What happens when econometrics and psychometrics collide? An example using the PISA data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 51-58.
    7. Philipp Lergetporer & Katharina Werner & Ludger Woessmann, 2021. "Does Ignorance of Economic Returns and Costs Explain the Educational Aspiration Gap? Representative Evidence from Adults and Adolescents," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(351), pages 624-670, July.
    8. Robison, Samuel & Jaggers, Jeremiah & Rhodes, Judith & Blackmon, Bret J. & Church, Wesley, 2017. "Correlates of educational success: Predictors of school dropout and graduation for urban students in the Deep South," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 37-46.
    9. Brendan Houng & Moshe Justman, 2015. "Out-Of-Sample Predictions Of Access To Higher Education And School Value-Added," Working Papers 1511, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
    10. Hassani-Nezhad, Lena & Anderberg, Dan & Chevalier, Arnaud & Lührmann, Melanie & Pavan, Ronni, 2021. "Higher education financing and the educational aspirations of teenagers and their parents," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    11. Polidano, Cain & Tabasso, Domenico, 2014. "Making it real: The benefits of workplace learning in upper-secondary vocational education and training courses," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 130-146.

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