How 'sticky' is increased educational attainment for avoiding wastage of talent among individuals from less advantaged backgrounds?

How 'sticky' is increased educational attainment for avoiding wastage of talent among individuals from less advantaged backgrounds?: A study of the relationship between 'positive attainment' in public examinations at age 16 and 'less ambitious' next steps educational choices for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The broad puzzle I am passionate about solving is how wastage of talent can be avoided for individuals from less advantaged backgrounds who show promise - and, in turn, how doing so can drive upward mobility in terms of the destinations and life chances of those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

There is extensive literature focused on the impact of an individual's social origins on educational attainment, and in turn its implications for social inequality from a life-course and intergenerational perspective. More specifically, it is widely acknowledged in the literature that individuals from more advantaged backgrounds outperform those from less advantaged backgrounds in terms of educational attainment (primary effects) and that, on average, individuals from more advantaged backgrounds make more ambitious educational choices, even when the level of prior educational attainment is held constant (secondary effects). However, much of the existing research focuses on the presence and strength of these relationships, and the choices that individuals make, rather than exploring how and why individuals make certain decisions about their futures.

This study will focus on one specific aspect of my wider puzzle: the dynamic where individuals from less advantaged backgrounds manage to achieve 'success' in public examinations at age 16, but then then make seemingly 'less ambitious' next steps educational choices.

This research project will seek to understand the key factors that drive the decision-making process for these individuals - in particular, how they assess the monetary and non-monetary benefits of investments in future education. Further, this study will explore how forward-looking calculations relating to the benefits of education influence how individuals view the importance of educational attainment in the present and their continued participation in education post-16.

It will also look at what ambition means for these individuals and how the value they attach to educational participation is impacted by the perceived relationship between their future labour market goals and the role of educational investments in helping achieve them. In addition, this study will seek to understand what factors within the educational context and individuals' family environment impact these dynamics.

Ultimately, this study will seek to understand, within the context of the Origin-Education-Destination triangle, the dynamic where mobility exists between Origin and Education without corresponding mobility between Education and next steps choices (linked to Destination) - and shed light on why education persists in being weak in terms of driving social mobility. In this way, it also aims to contribute to policymaking in this area in terms of suggesting potential interventions that enable positive educational attainment at age 16 to be 'locked in'.