Refereed article in conference proceedings (A4)
How does reserve capacity influences transition into upper secondary school among adolescent Finns?
List of Authors: L Koivusilta, P Acacio-Claro, A Rimpelä
Conference name: World Congress on Public Health
Place: Oxford
Publication year: 2020
Journal: European Journal of Public Health
Number in series: supplement 5
Volume number: 30
Background
Educational
inequalities occur when differences in educational outcomes are more
strongly related to students' background than their own academic
efforts. During adolescence, psychosocial resources such as social
support and self-efficacy, collectively termed “reserve capacity” may
serve as a pathway to educational transitions and help reduce
educational inequalities. We study how reserve capacity affects
transition of adolescents into upper secondary school in terms of
non-placement or placement into vocational or academic track.
We
use data from 9th graders in 128 schools at the 14 municipalities of
Helsinki Metropolitan region who participated in the MetLoFin follow-up
survey in 2014 (n = 7,344 students). The data were linked with the
national Joint Application Registry containing information on whether
student was placed in academic (65%) or vocational (32%) track or had no
placement (3%) for upper secondary schools. Multinomial logistic
regression models, adjusted for sex and school, were fitted to analyse
the effect of students' background and reserve capacity on type of
educational placement.
Students
whose parents had low education were more likely to be in vocational
than academic track compared to those whose parents had high education
(OR = 2.5 95% CI: 2.1-3.0). Having a foreign background increased the
risk of having no placement than academic placement (OR = 1.5 95% CI:
1.1-2.2) compared to native students. Low social support and low
self-efficacy predicted vocational placement of students relative to
academic track but not no placement compared to academic placement.
Academic grades remained strongest predictor of placement.
Students'
background still determine educational outcomes, but psychosocial
resources could likely reduce educational inequalities and ensure
successful educational transitions in adolescence.