Learning ability, socioeconomic status, and student placement for undergraduate studies in Israel

Abstract

Choice of institution and field of study for a bachelor's degree in Israel was found essentially meritocratic although influenced by socioeconomic status (SES) as well. As expected, students of higher ability attend universities and those of lower apply to academic colleges. However, among students of higher ability, those of higher SES opt for prestigious professions, such as medicine and law, or natural or social sciences, while those of lower SES choose economics and management, computer science, paramedical professions, and engineering. For students of lower learning ability, the differentiating effect of SES is smaller. Those of higher SES prefer university to college, even if they have to study in a less prestigious field, such as education or the humanities. On the other hand, students of lower ability and lower SES apply to colleges for studies such as education, social sciences, computer science, economics and management, and engineering. Overall, students who master financial resources and higher cultural capital prefer more 'theoretical' fields in a more extended course of study, while students of lower SES assume more 'practical' studies, which will enable them a faster entry to paying positions on the job market.

Do parental attitudes toward and expectations for their children's education and future jobs matter for their children's school achievement?

“…In particular, the results indicate that parental expectations, whether they pertain to their children's educational attainment, their children's future mathematics‐related career, or school academic emphasis, are more important than parental achievements (as measured by their educational attainment and occupational status). These results are consistent with those reported in some studies (Hauser et al ., ; Dar & Getz, ). For example, Dar and Getz's () study alluded to the importance of student expectations for a university education.…”

University Programme Preferences of High School Science Students in Singapore and Reasons that Matter in their Preferences: A Rasch analysis

“…On top of that, there are studies which have reported that a bachelor's degree in engineering could open up wider career opportunities with better remuneration than a science degree (e.g. Dar & Getz, 2007). Students who are interested in a science-oriented career would probably opt for Engineering programmes as they are usually perceived to provide better career prospects.…”

“…The three top reasons for selecting a course include career opportunities, ability, and grade. Dar and Getz (2007) noted that academically less bright students tend to pursue education and social science degrees, while brighter students tend to pursue science till graduate level. Their sample consisted of 1,538 second-and third-year Bachelor's degree students.…”

“…Most of the reviewed studies focused on reasons that matter in the subject choice at school level, with only a few at the university level. Only a few focused on reasons that matter in programme preferences at the university and that, too, in limited contexts (for example, Dar & Getz, 2007;Davidet al, 2003;Maringe, 2006;Myeong & Crawley, 1993;Young et al 1997). Where surveys were used, the scales were incorrectly assumed to be interval when these were actually ordinal (e.g.…”

The Nature of Mother’s Employment on Nurturing Campus Persistence among Undergraduate Students

“…Higher education needs to relocate itself with directions for change in the enhancement of experience on campus socio-economic status by women faculty in academics (Sheridan, Brennan, Carnes, & Handelsman, 2006). With social class often known to be impacting academic engagement (Kelly, 2008); the socio economic status is known leave its essentiality on learning ability and subsequent placement of students in the undergraduate study (Dar & Getz, 2007). The parental influence on work and family plans of adolescents diversifies by ethnic backgrounds (De Valk, 2008) where internet use for academic purpose is also found to be low among students with low socio-economic status (Aerschot & Rodousakis, 2008) with frequency of its use also varying by socio-economic status (Koc & Tamer, 2011).…”