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Poster #84 - Predicting Attainment of Postsecondary Education in Children from Disadvantaged Backgrounds After Changes in Educational Policies

Sat, March 23, 2:30 to 3:45pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

Educational attainment tends to be stable across generations. Yet, government policies may facilitate access to education and break the cycle of poverty for some families. The Quiet Revolution that took place in Québec (Canada) in the 1960s expanded educational opportunities. At the time, Quebec had among the lowest rates of postsecondary participation in North America. To increase education levels for all, and particularly for disadvantaged children, a network of postsecondary institutions were created. “CEGEPs” (similar to community colleges) offered 2- and 3-year programs, accessible after high school graduation. Graduating from CEGEP is faster and cheaper than graduating from university and it opens the door to high-quality jobs. We examined whether disadvantaged children did benefit from these educational opportunities, and the conditions which allowed them to succeed at the postsecondary level. Our goals were: (1) to identify children’s behavioral styles and academic abilities that predicted postsecondary (CEGEP and university) enrollment/completion; (2) to test for interactions among independent variables in predicting outcomes.

METHOD. Children from disadvantaged neighborhoods in Montreal (QC, Canada), were recruited in 1st, 4th or 7th grade, in 1976-1978. Their parents’ educational attainment averaged only 9 years. Aggression, withdrawal, and likeability were measured with peer nominations (Pekarik, 1976), and academic competence with standardized tests. Neighborhood disadvantage scores were derived from census data reflecting the prevalence of low income, single parenthood, unemployment, and school dropout in participants’ neighborhoods. Educational attainment by 2006, when participants were in their 40’s, came from government records. Out of the initial sample (n = 4109), we retained 3883 participants, using FIML to handle missing data (Mplus software). Results were estimated for males (N = 1941) and females (N = 1942) separately.

RESULTS. Although participants obtained an average of 3 years more education than their parents, socioeconomic differences and other risks remained (Table 1). We ran multinomial regressions with education as a dependent variable, coded (1) high school dropouts, (2) high school graduates, (3) CEGEP dropouts, (4) CEGEP graduates, (5) university enrollers/completers. CEGEP graduates were the reference category. Low-educated groups (1, 2, and 3) presented a higher-risk profile in childhood than CEGEP graduates. In contrast, CEGEP graduates and university enrollers/completers had similar profiles in childhood.
Several interactions emerged. Social withdrawal facilitated university attendance among boys from relatively lower-risk neighborhoods. Among girls, however, withdrawal steered those from higher-risk neighborhoods toward CEGEP graduation, instead of stopping after high school. In contrast, aggressive girls were more likely to stop after high school graduation rather than move onto CEGEP completion when coming from higher-risk neighborhoods. Among academically competent boys, those presenting high aggression in childhood were less likely to be university enrollers/completers. Girls’ peer-rated likeability compensated for lower academic competence and for higher aggression in predicting university enrollment/completion following CEGEP.

DISCUSSION. The educational policies of the Quiet Revolution were efficient in providing many disadvantaged youth with postsecondary education, However, within this generally disadvantaged sample, socioeconomic differences in educational outcomes persisted. Interactions suggest that policies increasing educational opportunities must be supplemented with interventions targeting aggressive youth and those with weaker academic skills.

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