The literature on the relationship between socioeconomic background (SES) and university education is inconsistent. Some studies conclude SES is important to university entry and course completion, others find trivial SES effects, net of students' prior performance, and a third group concludes that SES effects are important and policy relevant…

Although the gender gap in non-compulsory science attracts much attention, few studies compare factors that shape it at subsequent life stages. Here, a life-course approach is used to examine the gender gap in science career expectations at ages 16, 23 and 26 for a recent student cohort. Then, a decomposition is applied to assess what share of the…

While research on adolescent occupational expectations is voluminous, it either ignores students who do not report any career plans or imputes their answers. Consequently, little is known about the potential consequences that not having clear occupational expectations in adolescence might have for educational and occupational attainment in young…

Based on Eccles' expectancy-value model of achievement motivation this study used questionnaires to explore the relationships between expectations, task values and A-level achievement in 930 students from 12 Oxfordshire schools. Understanding the relationship between these variables is important given the significance of these qualifications for…

Self-concept is an important noncognitive predictor of learning success and academic achievement, but mechanisms behind these effects are mostly unknown (Marsh, 2006). We analyzed the influence of mathematical self-concept on university students' eye movements in reading mathematical PISA items in a mathematical and a problem-solving context. In a…

Every society invests enormous resources to ensure that children grow up with the skills, knowledge, and values that will enable them to be successful. Yet cultures vary in their beliefs about what effective parenting and teaching require. Nurturing children involves a collaboration among parents, teachers, and students and reflects cultural…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of university and vocational education, and other influences on a variety of labour market outcomes for Australian youths aged between 16 and 25. The six labour market outcomes investigated are: occupational status, hourly and weekly earnings, employment, unemployment and full-time work. The…

This study investigated how affective factors like attitude and motivation contribute to science achievement in PISA 2006 using linear structural modeling. The data set of PISA 2006 collected from 4942 fifteen-year-old Turkish students (2290 females, 2652 males) was used for the statistical analyses. A total of 42 selected items on a four point…

In this study, we tested the hypothesis that self-efficacy and self-concept reflect different underlying processes and both are critical to understanding long-term achievement outcomes. Although both types of self-belief are well established in educational psychology, research comparing and contrasting their relationship with achievement has been…

In the past 40 years, the proportion of women in science courses and careers has dramatically increased in some nations but not in others. Our research investigated how national differences in women's science participation related to gender-science stereotypes that associate science with men more than women. Data from ~350,000 participants in 66…

This empirical study explores the roles that Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Emotional Self-Efficacy (ESE) play in undergraduates' mathematical literacy, and the influence of EI and ESE on students' attitudes towards and beliefs about mathematics. A convenience sample of 93 female and 82 male first-year undergraduates completed a test of…

Drawing on the expectancy-value model, the present study explored individual and gender differences in university entry and selection of educational pathway (e.g., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM] course selection). In particular, we examined the multiplicative effects of expectancy and task values on educational outcomes…

The 21st-century work environment places strong emphasis on nonroutine transversal skills. In an educational context, complex problem solving (CPS) is generally considered an important transversal skill that includes knowledge acquisition and its application in new and interactive situations. The dynamic and interactive nature of CPS requires a…

In this article, we use data from the Canadian Youth in Transition Survey (YITS). This survey has followed longitudinally the Canadian Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) students originally surveyed in 2000. The aim of this article is to look to what extent social factors (e.g. gender, parental education and socio-economic…

Research evidence for the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) has demonstrated that attending high-ability schools has a negative effect on academic self-concept. Utilizing multilevel modeling with the 2003 Program for International Student Assessment database, the present investigation evaluated the generalizability and robustness of the BFLPE…