Higher education and the life course: Exploring the interactive effects of age and employment status on university graduation

IF 2.8 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY Pub Date : 2024-06-03 DOI:10.1111/hequ.12553

Albert Sánchez-Gelabert

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Abstract

The recent complexity of the university system, with diverse academic trajectories and varying socio-demographic characteristics of students, has led to increased access for historically underrepresented students. This has resulted in a rising number of adult learners, students with external responsibilities and individuals returning to education. However, despite this enhanced access, it remains unclear whether it has improved graduation. This uncertainty stems from the fact that students' social circumstances and external responsibilities differ significantly based on when they enter university. From a life course perspective, the aim of this paper is to explore the interactive effects of age at university entrance and employment status on the probability of graduating of an entire cohort of new students who entered the Catalan Higher Education System in 2012 (N = 29,463). The results show an interaction effect between age and employment status on the probability of graduation where working decreases the probability of graduation among students younger than 42 years old. Conversely, the negative impact of employment on university graduation diminishes among students entering university at an older age. This underscores the importance of adopting a life course perspective to comprehend students' educational experiences and outcomes within higher education.

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高等教育与人生历程：探索年龄和就业状况对大学毕业的交互影响

近来，大学系统日趋复杂，学生的学业轨迹和社会人口特征各不相同，这使得历来代表性不足的学生有了更多的机会。这使得成人学习者、承担外部责任的学生以及重返校园的学生人数不断增加。然而，尽管入学机会增加了，但是否提高了毕业率仍不清楚。这种不确定性源于这样一个事实，即学生的社会环境和外部责任因其进入大学的时间不同而大相径庭。从生命历程的角度来看，本文旨在探讨大学入学年龄和就业状况对 2012 年进入加泰罗尼亚高等教育体系的整批新生（N = 29,463 人）毕业概率的交互影响。结果显示，年龄和就业状况对毕业概率有交互影响，42 岁以下的学生工作会降低毕业概率。相反，就业对大学毕业的负面影响在年龄越大的学生中越小。这凸显了采用生命历程视角来理解学生在高等教育中的教育经历和结果的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

HIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH-

CiteScore

4.50

自引率

9.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： Higher Education Quarterly publishes articles concerned with policy, strategic management and ideas in higher education. A substantial part of its contents is concerned with reporting research findings in ways that bring out their relevance to senior managers and policy makers at institutional and national levels, and to academics who are not necessarily specialists in the academic study of higher education. Higher Education Quarterly also publishes papers that are not based on empirical research but give thoughtful academic analyses of significant policy, management or academic issues.