33. Gender and Education
Paper
Chinese Women Students’ Experience of Transnational Intersectionality: A Life History Creative Study
Qiao Dai
University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Presenting Author: Dai, Qiao
Chinese students, the largest source of international students in Europe, particularly favour the UK as their destination for Higher Education (HE) (Soysa et al., 2018). While Chinese women dominate participation in UK HE (HESA, 2022), in light of intersectionality (Collins, 2019), they may face various challenges, stigmatization, and discrimination based on their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, culture and language throughout their university experience. So, at the intersection between Chinese international students and women students, Chinese women’s lived experience can be different from that of both Chinese men and other women students, although, very little published data has a focus on Chinese women in UK HE. I am, therefore, interested in approaching Chinese women’s lived experience in UK HE from an intersectionality perspective, to engage with literature on HE students’ experiences, particularly those of women students and international students in Europe and globally.
After 1976, China’s dual approach to modernity was based on the neoliberal-socialist regime and ideology as a result of which young adults’ embraced values of neoliberal individualism and parents’ espoused gendered expectations for their daughters. Women’s life experience was characterised by this dual burden and Chinese young women’s construction of modern and traditional womanhood (Liu, 2014). Feminism in China now faces a new structure of power, rekindled traditional discourses, the widespread anti-feminist backlash and the dominance of an institutionalized marriage market. All stress the imperative of research into the understudied subject of Chinese womanhood and the limitations of doing so in the Chinese context. I am interested in exploring whether, and how, Chinese women students’ international HE experiences and transnational mobility can contribute to disrupting and challenging the gender status quo in China.
In light of black feminist thought (Collins, 2014a), it is vital for women, especially those at the margins of society, to define themselves to counter being historically defined by their intersectional marginalization and oppression. Also, in light of internalized oppression (Williams, 2012) and notions of the ideal womanhood (McRobbie, 2015), women students’ understanding of womanhood can have a significant impact on their opportunities and achievement. Considering the widespread influence of post-feminist discourse, the interaction between the understanding of womanhood and women students' life experiences is worth studying. Chinese women students in the UK experience transnational movement and International HE, so they may experience changes in their understanding of womanhood and its interaction with their transnational experience. However, very little is known about whether and how they experience such changes over time.
So, focusing on Chinese women with experience in UK Higher Education, this research aims to explore their understanding of womanhood and its interaction with their lived experience in UK HE over time. It asks specifically:
Q1 How do they understand womanhood over time?
Q1.1 Do they perceive a difference in womanhood between Chinese women and other women in UK HE?
Q2 How does their lived experience in UK HE interact with their understanding of womanhood over time?
Shedding light on UK HE, the findings of this transnational feminist research can engage with the discussion of intersectional justice in Chinese women’s experience in HE in Europe and globally. Also, the findings can contribute to the discussion of Chinese womanhood, gender equity and feminism in China. Together, this research aims to contribute to the discussion of international HE’s role in transnational intersectionality, which is part of the global effort of fighting against interlocking systems of oppression.
This research sits in a critical research paradigm particularly grounded in feminist epistemologies, including feminist standpoint epistemology, such as situated knowledge (Haraway, 2020), double consciousness (hooks, 2000), and outsider-within status (Collins, 2014b), intersectionality (Collins, 2019), and transnational feminisms (Moghadam, 2000).
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThis qualitative research used life history research and creative methods online.
Firstly, 56 Chinese women with experience in UK HE participated in 11 collage-facilitated culturally responsive focus groups online, where they used public domain pictures on shared PowerPoint slides as a whiteboard to make collages together. Sense-making of womanhood can be abstract to discuss and may not be a topic that participants often talk about, so the non-linear and non-linguistic capability of collage can help the elicitation and reconceptualization of womanhood. Culturally responsive focus groups are considered suitable for this research as participants' identities are validated with a focus on gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and nationality and their collective communication styles are appreciated. These collage-facilitated focus groups allowed them to feel comfortable whilst being challenged and supported to go beyond the taken-for-granted understanding of womanhood. This sensitive design assisted participants' collective sense-making of Chinese womanhood and empowered them to validate their truth and how they arrive at it. Secondly, out of 56 focus group participants, 30 participated in timeline-facilitated life history interviews online. Timelines helped complement the research of complicated constructions (Adriansen, 2012; French & Johnson, 2016), in this case, the interplay between the sense-making of Chinese womanhood and their experience in UK HE. With narrative interviews, this visualization allowed me to examine participants’ trajectories of life events, and capture changes, particularly in these cross-cultural settings.
Participant recruitment started with convenience sampling, followed by snowball and purposive sampling to recruit more underrepresented groups and to seek diversity. With an average age of 27, around half of the 56 Chinese women were current students and half were alumnae of UK HE, at the time of data collection in 2022. I prioritized and engaged in positionality, reflexivity, and ethics throughout the research process in various ways. Guided by dialectical thinking (Freeman, 2016), I mainly used versus coding (Saldaña, 2016) to code focus group data to reveal dichotomies of power and dramaturgical coding (Saldaña, 2016) to code interviews where I brought people (their emotions, attitudes) back to the dichotomies. For example, I investigated why the dichotomies exist to examine the status quo and changes, and whether and how participants resolve conflicts they felt and to look at potential challenges and disruptions of power dichotomies. Then, I plan to do a second-round coding of all data using longitudinal coding. Intersectionality and domains of power (Collins, 2014a, 2019) is the basis for my data analysis framework.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsData analysis is ongoing, but preliminary findings suggest participants’ sense-making of Chinese womanhood is characterised by a perceived self-contradiction, between traditional women restrained by the moral framework and family-hood, and modern women free to explore and develop individuality and selfhood. Their self-perception of traditional and modern women and lived experiences of patriarchal meritocracy in China are aligned with the country’s socialist-neoliberal regime (Wu & Dong, 2019). Also, as an example of the intersection of age, gender, sexuality and class in China, a social clock is found to be systemically shaping Chinese women’s life paths with perceived deadlines of the right ages of study, work, relationship, heterosexual marriage, and childbirth.
Participants considered UK HE and transnational living a chance for individual exploration due to the perceived freedom from moral framework and familyhood. Although, to a lesser extent in the UK, they continued to experience intersectional pressure of ageism, sexism, heteronormativity, and meritocracy from China. Also, their experience of the intersection of racism, xenophobia and sexism in the UK took a specific form associated with their identity as Chinese women and was further exacerbated during COVID-19. They strategically used UK HE to accumulate academic and intercultural capital and to further transnational mobility and agency to make life choices. Many returnees back to China experienced a reverse cultural shock with a perceived lack of gender and sexuality diversity and women’s rights. However, most returnees suggested a long-lasting positive impact of UK HE on their individual autonomy and accredited it to the experience of various lifestyles and learning of critical thinking. Overall, findings suggested intersectionality of gender, age, sexuality, nationality, race, class, language, and culture in Chinese women’s lived experiences and self-perception transnationally, and the significance of UK HE in their life trajectories. These findings have implications for the increasingly internationalized HE in Europe.
ReferencesAdriansen, H. K. (2012). Timeline interviews: A tool for conducting life history research. Qualitative studies, 3(1), 40-55. https://doi.org/10.7146/qs.v3i1.6272
Collins, P. H. (2014a). Black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Routledge. https://go.exlibris.link/rmM3rsjC
Collins, P. H. (2014b). Learning from the Outsider Within: The Sociological Significance of Black Feminist Thought*. Social problems, 33(6), s14-s32. https://doi.org/10.2307/800672
Collins, P. H. (2019). Intersectionality as critical social theory. Duke University Press. https://go.exlibris.link/mJy9kHMz
Freeman, M. (2016). Modes of thinking for qualitative data analysis. Routledge.
French, K. A., & Johnson, R. C. (2016). A retrospective timeline of the evolution of work-family research. In The Oxford handbook of work and family. (pp. 9-22). Oxford University Press.
Haraway, D. (2020). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. In Feminist theory reader (pp. 303-310). Routledge.
HESA, H. E. S. A. (2022). Where do HE students come from? https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/where-from
hooks, b. (2000). Feminist theory: From margin to center. Pluto Press.
Liu, F. (2014). From degendering to (re)gendering the self: Chinese youth negotiating modern womanhood. Gender and Education, 26(1), 18-34. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2013.860432
McRobbie, A. (2015). Notes on the Perfect. Australian feminist studies, 30(83), 3-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/08164649.2015.1011485
Moghadam, V. M. (2000). Transnational Feminist Networks: Collective Action in an Era of Globalization. International sociology, 15(1), 57-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580900015001004
Saldaña, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. SAGE.
Soysa, Y., Qiang, L., Jingming, L., Faist, T., Woodman, S., Cebolla-Boado, H., & Schneider, D. (2018). In Search of Excellence Chinese Students on The Move. http://brightfutures-project.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Bright-Futures-Booklet-Web-Version-1.pdf
Williams, T. K. (2012). Understanding internalized oppression: A theoretical conceptualization of internalized subordination. https://doi.org/10.7275/3527678
Wu, A. X., & Dong, Y. (2019). What is made-in-China feminism (s)? Gender discontent and class friction in post-socialist China. Critical Asian Studies, 51(4), 471-492. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2019.1656538
33. Gender and Education
Paper
Gay relationships in the 21st Century: Challenges and coping strategies as Bildung
Marvin Jansen
Europa-Universität Flensburg, Germany
Presenting Author: Jansen, Marvin
From the 1950s until the year 2000 there are some important German and US-American sociological and psychological studies about same sex relationships especially between gay men, like Dannecker and Reiche (1974), McWhirter and Mattison (1986), Pingel and Trautvetter (1987) or Richard A. Isay (1993).
But since then, there have been only a couple of studies (Buba & Vaskovics 2001, Çetin 2012, Wagner 2014) that explored experiences of discrimination for gay couples and how homosexuality became more or less accepted in society due to changing attitudes of population and legal changes.
However, a research gap can be identified concerning the ways in which gay men arrange their relationships, in the light of discrimination and its effect on couple’s cooperation and the questions: How do social and legal changes could influence partnership’s dynamics and how do gay men cope with different personal and structural challenges? Especially considering how society has changed, former problems might have been solved (e. g. political persecution) or became easier to handle (e. g. living with the threat of HIV due to medical improvement) whereas new challenges might come up (e. g. marriage and child adoption without descent role models).
As there is a desideratum and, hence, a need for research on relationships between gay men in the 21st Century, I developed the two following research questions: What kind of challenges might gay relationships face nowadays? How do they cope with different challenges based on relationship as a couple and individually?
By summarizing most of German or English-speaking studies I realized that most of the studies include heteronormative point of views and valuations about role allocation, sexual arrangements, and general lifestyles. They also seem to be written from a white, socially and economically privileged, (hetero-)normative perspective. So, the aim was not only to have a constant heteronormative-critical perspective, but to find diverse interview partners according to age, social and family background, ethnicity and (mental) health.
I refer to a social constructivist and post-structuralist approach that became very common in educational and social research, especially in quality and biographical research (Fritzsche et al. 2001; Jäckle 2009; Kleiner 2016). Not only gender, but the norms about sexual and romantic relationships are seen as culturally and historically constructed, to have an open-minded focus and attitude on relationships between gay men free of prejudice.
From an educational point of view coping strategies (e. g. the coming out process in front of family and friends) can be seen as processes of Bildung, in which the relation between the subject (self) and its environment (world) can lead to a fundamental transformation (Koller 2018) after e. g. a coming out, when someone can not only act and live due someone’s true (sexual and romantical) identity, but can live and arrange someone’s partnership without restrictions in everyday life. In the context of social disadvantages everyday experiences of differences for having a non-normative sexuality often prevent a subject’s fundamental transformation. But the agency/capacity to act as a process of stabilization can be understood as a process of Bildung as well (Wischmann 2010; Wischmann & Jansen 2023).
This perspective does not only lead to a positive view towards gay relationships and their potential to grow (as individuals and as a couple) but make an important impact on the discourse of educational processes and educational research under consideration of social injustice and disadvantages.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedMethodologically biographical research does not only consider individual life experiences but also structural challenges in the life of gay men to understand relationships and their ways of coping with couple challenges. Biographical education research can inductively focus on individual meaning and coping styles (Marotzki 2006a: 60, 2006b: 113).
The biographical narrative interview (Schütze 1977) as an appropriate method for an explorative strategy can work out different challenges gay men experience in their relationships considering also other disadvantages through varying differentiating categories (e. g. social background or ethnicity) in the biography.
To analyze the qualitative data the biographical case reconstruction (Rosenthal 2014) is an appropriate technique to collect qualitative data in a general biographical context. At the end of the qualitative analysis the achievement is a theoretical generalization about couple challenges and coping strategies (Rosenthal 2002: 8). By means of ten individual cases and a detected typology of different coping strategies the different individual cases do not lead to general, but to similar possible cases (Rosenthal 2002: 8; Lewin 1927/1967: 18). These outcomes gain knowledge about individual and couples challenges, possible coping strategies and helpful resources. But furthermore, they open a new perspective on self-education under specific circumstances. Although the research is focused on couples living in German cities, mostly grown up in Germany, and the outcomes may not be used universal, but the methodological strategy and its heteronormative-critical perspective can influence educational research on a global base.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsAs I analyzed half of my qualitative data so far here are three areas of conflicts that are exemplary for couple challenges. 1. Coming out: When a couple is not open about their sexuality (family, friends, work) and does not receive acceptance and appreciation as a couple, the own appreciation of a non-normative relationship can be negatively affected. If only one partner is openly gay and the other partner is (still) in the closet, there can be fundamental differences about everyday practices and ideal values, that can be questioning the whole relationship. 2. Ambivalent socialization of sexual exclusivity and openness: On the one hand, most people grow up with a heteronormative ideal of a romantic relationship, where monogamy is indispensable. On the other hand, sexual openness has always been a part of gay subculture due to historical circumstances […]. At the same time there is a “new” gay monogamous ideal of romantic relationships since the early 2000s (Buba & Vaskovics 2001). Because of outside expectations, own needs and social pressure but missing non-monogamous role models (e. g. through media or school) gay relationships depend on negotiation processes, that can be hard to cope with. If the couple does not possess relevant communication skills, a separation might be the only available coping strategy. 3. Physical or verbal assaults: When a couple is being assaulted physically or verbally in public, for instance in the darkness or in public spaces, this might affect the way they present themselves in public in the future. Not only can their presence and togetherness in public be limited. As they are less seen and get less recognition and appreciation from society, this might also harm their own validation of their partnership […].
By the time the congress takes place the outcomes and conclusions will be completed.
ReferencesBuba, H. P.; Vaskovics, L. A. (2001). Benachteiligung gleichgeschlechtlich orientierter Personen und Paare: Studie im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums der Justiz. Köln: Reguvis Fachmedien.
Çetin, Z. (2012). Homophobie und Islamophobie: Intersektionale Diskriminierungen am Beispiel binationaler schwuler Paare in Berlin. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag.
Dannecker, M.; Reiche, R. (1974). Der gewöhnliche Homosexuelle: eine soziologische Untersuchung über männliche Homosexuelle in der Bundesrepublik. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer.
Fritzsche, B.; Hartmann, J.; Schmidt, A.; Tervooren, A. (Hrsg.) (2001). Dekonstruktive Pädagogik. Erziehungswissenschaftliche Debatten unter poststrukturalistischen Perspektiven. Opladen: Leske + Budrich.
Jäckle, M. (2009). Schule M(m)acht Geschlechter. Eine Auseinandersetzung mit Schule und Geschlecht unter diskurstheoretischer Perspektive. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Kleiner, B. (2016). Komplizierte Verhältnisse: Geschlecht und Begehren in schulbiographischen Erzählungen von lesbischen, schwulen, bisexuellen und Trans-Jugendlichen. GENDER - Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, 8(3), 12-28.
Koller, H.-C. (2018). Bildung anders denken. Einführung in die Theorie transformatorischer Bildungsprozesse (2. Auflage). Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer.
Lewin, K. (1927/1967). Gesetz und Experiment in der Psychologie. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Marotzki, W. (2006a). Bildungstheorie und Allgemeine Biographieforschung. In H.-H. Krüger & W. Marotzki (Hrsg.), Handbuch erziehungswissenschaftliche Biographieforschung (2., überarbeitete und aktualisierte Auflage) (S. 59-70). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Marotzki, W. (2006b). Forschungsmethoden und -methodologie der Erziehungswissenschaftlichen Biographieforschung. In H.-H. Krüger & W. Marotzki (Hrsg.), Handbuch erziehungswissenschaftliche Biographieforschung (2., überarbeitete und aktualisierte Auflage) (S. 111-136). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
McWhirter, D. P.; Mattison, A. M. (1986). Männerpaare. Ihr Leben und ihre Liebe. Berlin: Bruno Gmünder.
Pingel, R.; Trautvetter, W. (1987). Homosexuelle Partnerschaften. Eine empirische Untersuchung. Berlin: Verlag rosa Winkel
Isay, R. A. (1993). Schwul sein. Die Entwicklung des Homosexuellen. München: Piper Serie.
Rosenthal, G. (2002). Biographische Forschung. In D. Schaeffer; G. Müller-Mundt (Hrsg.), Qualitative Gesundheits- und Pflegeforschung. Bern u.a.: Huber.
Rosenthal, G. (2014). Interpretative Sozialforschung. Eine Einführung (Grundlagentexte Soziologie) (4. Auflage). Weinheim: Beltz Juventa.
Schütze, F. (1977). Die Technik des narrativen Interviews in Interaktionsfeldstudien: dargestellt an einem Projekt zur Erforschung von kommunalen Machtstrukturen (Bd. 1). Bielefeld: Universitätsverlag Bielefeld.
Wagner, D. (2014). Schwule Partnerschaften: Eine vergleichsweise junge Beziehungsform zwischen Akzeptanz, Ambivalenz und Ablehnung. Hamburg. Diplomica.
Wischmann, A. (2010). Adoleszenz – Bildung – Anerkennung. Adoleszente Bildungsprozesse im Kontext sozialer Benachteiligung. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Wischmann, A.; Jansen, M. (2023). Bildung als Balanceakt zwischen Transformation und Stabilisierung. In J. Lipkina, A. Epp, T. Fuchs (Hrsg.), Bildung jenseits von Krisen? Anfragen und Perspektiven der qualitativen Bildungs- und Biographieforschung. Opladen: Barbara Budrich.
33. Gender and Education
Paper
Gender Differences in Upper Secondary School Students' Aspirations for Studying Abroad
Branislava Baranović, Josip Šabić
Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, Croatia
Presenting Author: Baranović, Branislava
Having high aspirations is an important factor in developing the potential of individuals, achieving their own goals and becoming productive and active citizens. In this context, the educational aspirations and choices that influence the attainments in the future professional career and the quality of life of individuals in general are of particular importance.
As many studies evidence, the educational aspirations are shaped and developed in response to many individual (e.g. academic self-efficacy, believes about education, sex) and contextual determinants (e.g. family socio-economic status, parental education, parental support, school’s support) which can hinder or facilitate the development of high educational aspirations (Gorard et al., 2012; Gutman and Akerman, 2008; Schoon et al. 2007).
Despite significant attainments in education, women still belong to those social groups that encounter obstacles in achieving their educational aspirations, and experience a gap between their educational achievements and professional career that results in lower wages for women.
According to the statistics for the year 2020, 46% of women in EU obtained tertiary education compared to 36% of men. Although women have outperformed men in achieving tertiary education, across the EU they earn less per hour than men. In 2018, the gross hourly wages of women in the EU were on average 14.4% lower than those of men (Eurostat, 2020). Similarly, in Croatia there is also a gender gap between educational achievement and economical reward of women. Women make up 57% of higher education students while men make up 43%. At the same time, women's average monthly earnings were 89.9% of the monthly earnings of men (Croatian Bureau of Statistics, 2022).
Like statistical indicators, research results, including Croatian studies, also point to gender differences in educational aspirations, indicating a consistent trend of higher educational aspirations for girls than for boys (Schoon et al. 2007; Gutman and Akerman, 2008; Jugović, 2015; Šabić and Jokić, 2021). Educational aspiration is a complex construct, associated with various individual and contextual characteristics of students that influence relationship between gender and educational aspirations. Scoon et al. (2007) show that socially disadvantaged students tend to have lower educational aspirations than their socially privileged counterparts. Additionally, girls from families with traditional gender beliefs and stereotypes also tend to have lower educational aspirations. Research findings also suggest that aspirations are related to attitudes towards education and beliefs, especially to belief in an individual's own academic abilities. (Gutman and Akerman, 2008).
From a methodological point of view it is important to emphasize that these studies show that the complexity of various interdependent influences on educational aspirations requires an intersectional approach.
The aim of our research is to explore gender differences during the COVID-19 pandemic in upper secondary school students' aspirations to study abroad, i.e. to test if gender contributes to these aspirations when contextual variables (cultural capital, economic capital and residential status) and students’ individual variables (GPE, self-efficacy for HE and estimates of the societal value of education in Croatia) are controlled for.
As we have mentioned, Croatian statistics and research indicate higher aspirations of girls to pursue tertiary education than boys, the influence of gender stereotypes on students study choices and higher aspirations of economically and culturally priviliged students to study abroad. Studying abroad proved to be an additional channel for the reproduction of a privileged status (Puzić et al., 2020).
Based on the mentioned, we hypothesize that higher educational aspirations of females will be also visible in proportion of girls who aspire to study abroad (in comparison to proportion of boys). We also assume that the aspiration to study abroad will be associated with higher cultural and economic capitals of boys and girls.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe research was conducted in 2021 within the project “National monitoring of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on educational system in Republic of Croatia” that was funded by the Croatian Ministry of science and education. The data were obtained from a Croatian nationally representative sample of 6350 students (58.3% females) from 77 upper secondary schools. The students attended either gymnasium or vocational programs that allowed them to enter higher education. Following the conceptualization of the educational aspiration in other studies (Šabić and Jokić, 2021; Ristić Dedić and Jokić, eds. 2019; Gorard et al., 2012; Quaglia, 1996), we defined it as an educational goal to achieve the desired educational achievements and experiences.
The students’ questionnaire item measuring students’ aspirations for higher education (In the future, I want to pursue higher education; Yes, No, I don’t know) was used as a filter and further analyses were conducted on results of 5106 students (62.7 % females) who answered that they want to pursue higher education. The item measuring students’ aspirations for studying abroad was: If yes, which is the most desirable place for you to study?, Zagreb, Regional higher-education centre, Some other city in Croatia, Some other EU country, Some other country outside of EU; answers to this item were recoded in two categories: Croatia and abroad).
In addition, students’ questionnaire contained the following items/scales: student’s expected GPA, upper secondary school program (gymnasium or vocational), gender, location (urban or rural), indicators of cultural capital (number of books at home, parental educational level), indicators of economic capital (parental employment status, student’s possession of his/her own room), students’ self-efficacy for HE (How confident are you that you will successfully…? Pass the State Matura exams, Enroll in the desired study program, Complete the desired study program; α=.86), and beliefs about societal value of education in the Croatian society (one item: Education is valued in Croatia; from 1 - I completely disagree to 4 - I completely agree). Cultural capital was dichotomised (0–low; 1–high [student has at least one HE parent and ≥25 books in his/her home]), as well as economic capital (0–low; 1–high [if both parents were employed and student has his/her own room]).
We employed multilevel logistic regression modelling with a random intercept to take into account the hierarchical nature of the sample (i.e. students were nested in schools). Students’ aspirations for studying abroad served as the outcome variable.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsIn line with our hypothesis, the findings indicate a small but statistically significant difference during the COVID-19 pandemic in favor of females in aspirations to study abroad. This finding is compliant with other findings that women have higher educational aspirations than males (Schoon et al. 2007; Gutman and Akerman, 2008; Jugović, 2015; Šabić and Jokić, 2021).
Students of urban residential status more often have aspirations for studying abroad than students from rural area. In addition, students of higher cultural capital also more often tend to have aspirations for studying abroad.These findings are not surprising and they are in line with other studies, including those in Croatia, which show that students from urban areas and with higher cultural capital tend to have higher educational aspirations and continue schooling at tertiary education (Gutman and Akerman, 2008; Ristić Dedić, 2019; Puzić et al. 2020). Students who give lower estimates of societal value of education in the Croatian society are also more keen to study abroad (Puzić et al. 2020). Somewhat surprisingly, students from gymnasium programs did not differ from students from vocational programs in aspirations for studying abroad. Student’s expected GPA also did not contribute to the model and neither did economic capital and self-efficacy for HE. Studies that use other measures of educational aspirations as outcome variables usually report school type, GPA, self-efficacy and economic capital as important predictors of student aspirations (e.g. Puzić et al. 2020; Šabić and Jokić, 2021).
The analysis was repeated on a subsample of female students and the findings were similar to those reported on a whole sample. However, in the female subsample, economic capital was also a predictor of aspirations for studying abroad. On the other hand, in subsample of male students only urban residential status predicted the aspirations for studying abroad.
References- Croatian Bureau of Statistics. (2022). Women and men in Croatia. https://podaci.dzs.hr/media/04pff1do/women_and_man_2022.pdf
- Eurostat (2020) Gender statistics. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Gender_statistics&oldid=584079#Education
- Gorard, S., B. H. See and P. Davies (2012) The Impact of Attitudes and Aspirations on Educational Attainment and Participation. Article January 2012, York: The Joseph Rowentree Foundation.
- Gutman L. M. and R. Akerman (2008) Determinants of aspirations. London: Centre
for Research on the the Wider Benefits of Learning.
- Jugović, I. (2015) Rodna dimenzija odabira područja studija. U: B. Baranović (ur.)
Koji učenici namjeravaju studirati? Pristup visokom obrazovanju. str. 165.-185.
Zagreb: Institut za društvena istraživanja.
- Puzić, S., J. Šabić, I. Odak (2020) To Study Abroad, in Zagreb or in Some Other
Croatian City? Social Background, Rationality of Choice and Secondary School
Students’ Aspirations Towards the Place of Studying. Croatian Sociological Review,
Vol. 50, No. 2, 285–308.
- Quaglia, R. J. and C. D. Cobb (1996) Toward a Theory of Student Aspirations.
Journal of Research in Rural Education, Vol. 12, No.3, 127-132.
- Ristić Dedić, Z. and Jokić B. (ur.) (2019) Što nakon srednje? Želje, planovi, i
stavovi hrvatskih srednjoškolaca. Zagreb: Agencija za znanost I visoko obrazovanje.
- Ristić Dedić, Z. (2019) Lokacijska perspektiva – Želje, planovi, stavovi učenika
završnih razreda srednjih škola o prijelazu iz srednjeg u visoko obrazovanje. U: Z.
Ristić Dedić and B. Jokić (ur.) Što nakon srednje? Želje, planovi, i stavovi
hrvatskih srednjoškolaca. str. 84-103. Zagreb: Agencija za znanost I visoko
obrazovanje.
- Schoon, I., Martin, P. and Ross, A. (2007) Career transitions in times of social
change. His and her story. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70(1):78-96
- Šabić, J. and B. Jokić (2021) Elementary school pupils’ aspirations for higher
education: the role of status attainment, blocked opportunities and school context.
Educational Studies, 2021, Vol. 47, No. 2, 200–216.
|
