How Schools' College-Going Culture Affects Higher Education Enrollment: A Multilevel Application of Institutional Habitus

• In Event: The Politics and Policy of Achievement, Reform, and Choice

Abstract

Students’ college enrollment varies by social class and ethnicity. Accordingly, disparities in attendance are often attributed to individual features, e.g., performance, cultural capital, and risk aversion. More recently, researchers have begun investigating schools’ institutional habitus as reflected in educational strategies, collective aspirations, and extracurricular offerings. We examine the effects of schools’ college-going culture on students’ likelihood to enroll in higher education in Germany. Drawing on Smyth and Banks (2012), we define college-going culture as a specific type of institutional habitus that promotes enrollment and socializes students into aspiring college students. Using longitudinal data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we investigate to which extent schools transmit beliefs and norms to students by collaborating with the wider college community.

Authors

• Frederick de Moll, Bielefeld University
  Presenting Author

• Annabell Daniel, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
  Non-Presenting Author

• Martin Daumiller, University of Augsburg
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nicolas Huebner
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jan Scharf, DIPF Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education
  Non-Presenting Author

• Fabian Wolff, University of Koblenz
  Non-Presenting Author