This dissertation contains three chapters, each investigating a question in American economic history. The first chapter is co-authored with Ran Abramitzky, Santiago Perez, and Joseph Price. In this work, we conduct a large-scale digitization of historical college registers, encompassing 2.7 million students at 65 elite US universities. We use…

The urban development of learning is a key goal of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). However, the drive to achieve urban learning requires several key points. Citizenship and cooperation are associated with developing the city of learning. This research studies the relationship between citizenship and…

This paper uses data from PISA 2018 in Germany to explore how the students' chronotype (known as larks and owls) and their academic achievement is related to truancy. We used an adapted version of the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ) to measure the students' chronotype. The results demonstrate a correlation between the students' social jet…

Using semi-structured interviews with nine socioeconomically and educationally disadvantaged Latin@s at a predominantly White institution, this phenomenological study examined the role that parents played in their success in college. Three distinct themes were identified related to academic advice, motivation, needs; encouraging their resilience;…

In this paper we investigate whether and if so why different pathways to higher education (HE) have an effect on the development of the intention to study and its motivational factors of pupils from different social backgrounds. In Germany as well as in many other countries, non-traditional pathways--mostly vocational oriented schools, but also…

The majority of U.S. adults believe that smoking is a cause of lung cancer, but research suggests that the percentage of adults who believe smoking causes other types of cancers and chronic disease is lower. This study examines the correlates of beliefs about several established health effects of smoking in a nationally representative sample of…

Background: Due to the increasing use of information and communication technology, computer-related skills are important for all students in order to participate in the digital age (Fraillon, J., Ainley, J., Schulz, W., Friedman, T. & Duckworth, D. (2019). "Preparing for life in a digital world: IEA International Computer and Information…

Mobile has become the primary mode of Internet access for many people. Existing studies have generally indicated that mobile Internet represents an inferior substitute for traditional PC-based Internet. In particularly, mobile-only users are often found to be the most disadvantaged. This paper explores the usage characteristics of multimodal users…

This essay starts from the observation that the issue of talent, in relation to the problem of distributive justice, can be approached from two different angles. First, it is common to discuss the justificatory function of talent, that is, its role in the justification of educational or social inequalities. In addition, however, this essay…

The present study was the first to investigate the ability to selectively trust reliable informants in a sample of Brazilian preschool children from two different socioeconomic backgrounds. Ninety-three 3- and 4-year-old children, equally distributed across a low- and medium-SES group, participated. A standard selective trust task was used.…

How do young graduates view the role of immediate families in influencing/supporting them as they start their working lives and how do those reflections affect how they think of themselves as graduates? Social, political and economic changes have led to many young people being dependent on family for longer, but how does this play out in their…

This qualitative case study examined the effect of writing sessions, conducted at a university literacy festival, on the construction of college admission essays. Sessions were conducted by authors of multicultural young adult literature and university writing center staff and students. Each session focused on helping 132 high school students from…

This article explores the sustained impact of an Access module on mature students from disadvantaged backgrounds as they progress to undergraduate study. Framed in the context of OfS concerns about attrition and conceptualisation of dispositional, situational and institutional barriers, student survey and tutor focus group data were collected in a…

This paper assesses the role of shadow education (SE), i.e., organised learning activities outside formal schooling, in the lives of secondary school students of different social backgrounds and in different school settings, in a high-stakes context. It draws on multilevel analysis of longitudinal Growing Up in Ireland data, alongside narratives…

This article analyses whether Brazilian graduates feel that their higher education programmes have contributed to the development of civic competences (ethics, critical thinking and respect for diversity), necessary to become active citizens in a democratic and fair society. The analysis considers disciplines and students' socioeconomic and…