Human capital development: A construct for underprivileged students

Abstract

Preparing underprivileged students to become human capital is a challenge. Issues relating to motivation and behavior are often cited as a roadblock in for quality of their learning and development. The primary goal of this study is to develop a construct as a foundation for future design and improvement to ensure successful human capital development for underprivileged students. The proposed construct is derived from the case study with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration since 2016. Observation and interviews, through the use of Big Data represent the key tasks in the study's methodology. The case study highlights many changes and improvements in science experiment and education, especially with the focus on ecology and environment. They include empathy, trust, psychological safety, participation, sense of belongingness, pride, and financial incentive (from the sales of product developed from science experiment). The proposed construct helps visualize the interrelationship among these factors. More importantly for the study's implications, recognizing the extreme value in student demographics when engaging with underprivileged students is essential for design and improvement. Finally, additional tasks are recommended to help generalize and extend this construct.

Roma students and their inclusion in schools

“…The school-to-work transition is a critical juncture in shaping the career futures of at-risk youth (Lifshitz, 2017). Consequently, as Kongtong et al (2020) indicated, preparing disadvantaged students to become human capital is challenging. Motivational and behavioural issues are often cited as a barrier to the quality of their learning and development.…”

Roma students and their inclusion in schools

“…The school-to-work transition is a critical juncture in shaping the career futures of at-risk youth (Lifshitz, 2017). Consequently, as Kongtong et al (2020) indicated, preparing disadvantaged students to become human capital is challenging. Motivational and behavioural issues are often cited as a barrier to the quality of their learning and development.…”