In the UK, students who want to progress to higher education have a number of possible pathways at age 16. The most common of these is traditional, academic focussed, 'A' levels, but increasingly students are taking alternative qualifications (e.g. BTECs, IB, Pre-U). The focus of this research is to infer which (if any) of these qualifications are…

Disruptive innovations are used to lower costs and augment access to high-quality, affordable higher education, but little systematic research is available on the topic. Higher education institutions use disruptive innovations to save students time and money. To understand the process of disruptive innovation, I investigated the rapid diffusion of…

Student loans have become a social-financial issue in the United States. This study uses a nationally representative dataset to examine the association between financial socialization and student loan borrowing behavior of individuals after controlling a number of different socio-demographic factors. Results show that the financial burdens of…

As English skills are being increasingly perceived as valuable human capital, an awareness of inequitable access to the acquisition of this "profitable" language has developed. Although this allegedly unequal access, which can be referred to as the "English divide", is a matter of concern to applied linguists, little research…

This paper aims to explore social inequalities in school achievement and educational decision-making of the final-year students of secondary schools in the City of Zagreb and Zagreb County, Croatia (N = 534). The theoretical framework of the paper was Bourdieu's theory of cultural and social reproduction (1977a). The main objectives were an…

This study investigates the barriers to prisoners' participation in vocational orientation programmes, as well as the predictors of different types of barriers. Survey data derived from a project in a remand prison in Belgium (N = 468) provided the empirical evidence for the analyses. The results indicate that facing situational and informational…

Previous studies have shown that state performance funding policies do not increase baccalaureate degree production, but higher education scholarship lacks a rigorous, quantitative analysis of the unintended consequences of performance funding. In this article, we use difference-in-differences estimation with fixed effects to evaluate performance…

Legislation has mandated that secondary schools provide services for students with disabilities that prepare them for independent living, employment, and/or post-secondary education (IDEA, 2004). This study examined the perceptions of special education directors, assistant directors/program coordinators, and secondary special education teachers…

This paper examines the relative importance of upper secondary subject choice and attainment in explaining social inequalities in access to higher education (HE) in Scotland and Ireland. These two countries differ in the extent of curriculum differentiation, in the degree of standardisation in school examination and in HE entry criteria. In…

Online course delivery continues to grow as a viable means of providing increased educational access to more students, but low student retention rates remain a major challenge. In this study, key institutional characteristics that influence student retention in postsecondary education are analyzed. These are student-faculty ratio, graduation rate,…

High school counselors play a key role in increasing students' access to college. With increasing student-to-counselor ratios as well as demands on their time, school counselors often lack the ability to provide adequate college counseling. In this article, we explored how school counselors can use educational technology, specifically the online…

Recent penetration of mobile technologies and its services in East Africa has provided a new platform for institutions to widen access to education through mobile learning. Mobile technologies provide learners with flexibility and ubiquity to learn anytime and anywhere via wireless Internet. However, far too little research has been conducted to…

Disabilities and negative attitudes toward individuals with disabilities permeate human history, from ancient Greece to modern society. The study of attitude toward disabilities, mostly in western countries, has provided information for the development of policy concerning the rights of individuals with disabilities. Complying with international…

In recent years, policy makers, researchers, and educators have focused on the preparation of individuals in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. One popular policy lever is STEM-focused high schools. The purpose of this study is to identify which student populations have access to STEM secondary schools. By comparing…

Stellenbosch University has a unique history in the South African higher education context and has made significant strides in attracting more students of colour. Taking in to account the University's strategic commitment to the expansion of its diversity profile among newcomer first-year students from 24 per cent in 2010 to 33 per cent by 2015,…