Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/245631 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14580
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
While it has been shown that university attendance is strongly predicted by parental education, we know very little about why some potential 'first in family' or first-generation students make it to university and others do not. This paper looks at the role of non-cognitive skills in the university participation of this disadvantaged group in England. We find that conditional on national, high-stakes exam scores and various measures of socioeconomic background, having higher levels of non-cognitive skills, specifically locus of control, academic self-concept, work ethic, and self-esteem, in adolescence is positively related to intergenerational educational mobility to university. Our results indicate that having higher non-cognitive skills helps potential first in family university students to compensate for their relative disadvantage, and they are especially crucial for boys. The most important channel of this relationship seems to be through educational attainment at the end of compulsory schooling.
Subjects: 
socioeconomic gaps
intergenerational educational mobility
higher education
non-cognitive skills
JEL: 
I24
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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