[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-593409-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-593409-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","aiming-higher-school-students-attitudes-to-higher-education","Aiming Higher: School Students' Attitudes to Higher Education","","Paper presents findings from the second stage of a three-year longitudinal study of 3,570 students aged 13–18 in a London borough, examining how Widening Participation (WP) affects attitudes toward higher education. It builds on an earlier stage, focusing on two cohorts of Year 10 students (ages 14–15) and their Attitudes to Higher Education Questionnaire (AHEQ) responses. Analyses include sex and cohort differences linked to WP activities targeting socially disadvantaged students, with implications discussed via social identity and self-concept theories and participation strategies.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/aiming-higher-school-students-attitudes-to-higher-education/593409/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/aiming-higher-school-students-attitudes-to-higher-education/593409.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Elsa","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the main purpose of the study?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"To examine how Widening Participation (WP) influences school students’ attitudes toward higher education, using data collected across stages of a three-year longitudinal study.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How was students’ attitude toward higher education measured?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Students completed the specially designed Attitudes to Higher Education Questionnaire (AHEQ) and provided information about WP activities they had participated in.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What factors do the findings connect to changes in attitudes?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The results report significant sex and cohort differences and interactions related to WP activities aimed at increasing participation among socially disadvantaged students.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},593409,1792211348,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},137455077381,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d","‘But no one in my family has been to  \nUniversity’  \nAiming Higher: School Students’Attitudes to Higher Education  \nPam Maras  \nUniversity of Greenwich, UK  \nAbstract  \nIn this paper, we present findings from the second stage of a three year longitudinal study involving 3,570 students aged 13-18 in a London Borough looking at the impact of Widening Participation (WP) on the attitudes of students. We outline findings from a previous stage and then focus specifically on two cohorts of Year 10 students (aged 14-15) in two consecutive years. The students completed the specially designed Attitudes to Higher Education Questionnaire (AHEQ) and provided information on WP activities in which they had participated. Data on the students’ academic attainment and social backgrounds were also included. There were significant sex and cohort differences and interactions which were found to be related to WP activities specifically aimed at increasing the participation of socially disadvantaged students in higher education. The implications of findings are discussed in relation to theories of social identity and self concept and the implementation of strategies to increase participation in Higher Education.  \nIntroduction 1  \nContext  \nSocial and economic background still appears to be an important factor when it comes to performance and participation in education. Demie, Butler and Taplin (2002) found that schools with higher numbers of disadvantaged families performed poorer than those with smaller proportions. Sacker, Schoon and Bartley (2002) found social class inequalities increased from seven to 11 years of age, remaining at the same levels at  \nThe Australian Educational Researcher, Volume 34, Number 3, December 2007 •69  \nPAM MARAS  \n16 years. The Office for National Statistics (2004, p. 2) report that participation in post- 16 (further) education is strongly influenced by social and economic background: ‘In 2002, 87 per cent of 16 year olds with parents in higher professional occupations were in full-time education, compared to 60 per cent of those with parents in routine occupations, and 58 per cent with parents in lower supervisory occupations’. In order to address these social and economic discrepancies, the UK Government has a policy aimed at: ‘creating a higher education system that includes all who can benefit from it – people who might not otherwise view learning as an option, or who may be discouraged by social, cultural, economic or institutional barriers’ (Action on access 2005, p. 3) . This is known as Widening Participation (WP) .  \nEnglish Local Authorities (LAs2) are striving to meet the national benchmarks to widen participation in higher education (HE) through the use of initiatives and interventions aimed at the disadvantaged.  \n‘Aim Higher’ is one such national initiative (DfES 2005) aimed at meeting these goals through targeting WP activities at students aged 14-19 years who have the ability togo to higher education, but whose backgrounds might mean that they or their families might not, in the past, have considered university to be an option for them.  \nResearch on participation in higher education Factors found to influence school students’ participation in higher education have included participation in college preparation programmes (Fogel 2003), the development of special curriculum strategies (Laplan et al. 2003), perceptions of teachers/counsellors, and the role of parents and academic identities (Howard 2002) .  \nFamily factors Douglas (1964, cited in DfES 2003) suggests that children were not educationally disadvantaged directly by social class but by lack of parent interest. Findings suggest that children whose parents showed a high level of interest, irrespective of social class, scored higher on tests (DfES 2003) . Similarly, Hill et al.(2004) found that parental involvement was directly associated with young peoples’aspirations, although not achievement. Heiner (1981) found that attitudes towards educati","cbCaikpClgytoTbl","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikpClgytoTbl","pdf",108359,22,"English","# Abstract\n## Introduction\n### Context\n### Research on participation in higher education\n### Family factors\n### Social development\n### Social identity","[{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose of the study?\",\"answer\":\"To examine how Widening Participation (WP) influences school students’ attitudes toward higher education, using data collected across stages of a three-year longitudinal study.\"},{\"question\":\"How was students’ attitude toward higher education measured?\",\"answer\":\"Students completed the specially designed Attitudes to Higher Education Questionnaire (AHEQ) and provided information about WP activities they had participated in.\"},{\"question\":\"What factors do the findings connect to changes in attitudes?\",\"answer\":\"The results report significant sex and cohort differences and interactions related to WP activities aimed at increasing participation among socially disadvantaged students.\"}]","Aiming Higher: School Students' Attitudes to Higher Education | PDF",1792077206,55]