Peer-mentoring of students in rural and low socioeconomic status schools: increasing aspirations for higher education
) using the following keywords: disadvantaged; mentoring; rural urban disparity; socioeconomic background; tertiary education; university
© Commonwealth of Australia, 2012
With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, the Department’s logo, any material protected by a trade mark and where otherwise noted all material presented in this document is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence.
The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons website (accessible using the links provided) as is the full legal code for the CC BY 3.0 AU licence .
The Creative Commons licence conditions do not apply to all logos, graphic design, artwork and photographs. Requests and enquiries concerning other reproduction and rights should be directed to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).
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.
COVER IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES/THINKSTOCK
ISBN 978 1 922056 39 9
TD/TNC 110.22
Published by NCVER, ABN 87 007 967 311
Level 11, 33 King William Street, Adelaide SA 5000
PO Box 8288 Station Arcade, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia
P +61 8 8230 8400 F +61 8 8212 3436 E ncver@ncver.edu.au W
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
Dostları ilə paylaş: