Peer-mentoring of students in rural and low ses schools

Peer-mentoring of students in rural and low socioeconomic status schools: increasing aspirations for higher education

David D Curtis
Aaron Drummond
John Halsey
Michael J Lawson

School of Education, Flinders University

The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author/
project team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government,
state and territory governments or NCVER.

Any interpretation of data is the responsibility of the author/project team.

NATIONAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING RESEARCH PROGRAM

RESEARCH REPORT

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This document should be attributed as Curtis, D, Drummond, A, Halsey, J & Lawson, M 2012, Peer-mentoring of students in rural and low socioeconomic status schools: increasing aspirations for higher education, NCVER, Adelaide.

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About the research

Peer-mentoring of students in rural and low socioeconomic status schools: increasing aspirations for higher education

David D Curtis, Aaron Drummond, John Halsey, Michael J Lawson,
School of Education, Flinders University

Students from rural and low socioeconomic backgrounds do not pursue university education at the same rate as those from metropolitan areas or from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. This has been a long-standing issue for government.

This study explores the aspirations and intentions for university education among low socioeconomic status (SES) and regional school students and looks at how peer-mentoring might influence them.

Through an analysis of the 2003 cohort from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), the study found that:

Although there is a substantial difference in the rates of higher education participation of metropolitan and rural young people, this difference is not attributed simply to location but rather to other factors associated with location. These factors include the lower socioeconomic backgrounds of rural youth, the presence of fewer young people of immigrant backgrounds in rural communities and the lower aspirations for higher education and professional careers among rural youth.

Compared with their peers from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, low-SES students have less favourable attitudes towards school, lower achievement at school, less ambitious post-school study and career aspirations and lower participation in higher education.

An analysis of data collected from school students who were being mentored by university students showed that:

Students who received sustained mentoring revealed a significantly higher estimated likelihood of enrolling in a university course. Mentoring appeared to raise students’ identification with university ‘in-groups’ and reduce perceived barriers to university study.

While mentoring increased aspirations for university study, it did not reduce aspirations for vocational education and training (VET) programs.

While this study is limited to the findings from one program administered at two schools, it provides a useful case study, in that it demonstrates the potential benefits of mentoring.

Tom Karmel
Managing Director, NCVER

Contents

Figures 7

Executive summary 8

2Intentions, achievement and attainment of metropolitan and rural students 8

3The mentoring program 8

Introduction 10

Investigation 1: intentions, achievement and attainment of metropolitan and rural students 12

4Data 12

5Methods 13

6Results 13

7Summary and implications of findings 16

Investigation 2: the effects of a mentoring program 18

8Method 19

9Results 21

Discussion and implications 25

References 26

Appendix A 28

10Questionnaire measures 28

NVETR Program funding 33