Guidance & Counselling Student / Practitioner Forum

1. Paula Benton Guidance & Counselling Student / Practitioner Forum

2. Factors affecting university and course choice: Implications for Guidance

3. Rationale • Professional interest • Tuition fees raised • Youth unemployment • Guidance services for young people have been subject to cuts

4. Decision Making Models Structuralist Rational Pragmatic Rationality

5. Decision making styles and other factors Rational or intuitive? Active or passive? Readiness Self efficacy

6. Factors affecting university and course choice What’s important? Career prospects outweigh interest in subject (Maringe, 2006) Quality is more important than value for money (Foskett, 2006)

7. Who influences university and course choice? Family • Parents influence choice • Decision making is embedded social practice within and across generations and life course (Heath et al, 2007) • Girls are more collaborative and likely to involve parents (especially mothers) • Fathers tended to try to control the process, mothers were more facilitative (David et. al, 2003)

8. Who influences university and course choice? Schools Influence whether we go to university and which one we go to. Schools with sixth forms have university more deeply ingrained in their future perspective. Connexions Viewed as important, particularly in lower socio economic schools without sixth forms. (Fosket et. al, 2008)

9. Socio Economic Factors • Increasingly, locality and cost were significant factors for a significant number of students (localism) • Non traditional students go through a process of ‘psychological self exclusion’ in which ‘traditional’ universities are discounted • Students from all backgrounds choose universities where they see themselves ‘fitting in’ Reay et. al (2001)

10. What next? • Research idea and rationale • Background reading • Establish a focus – refine research questions • Decide on an approach (methodology and research design) • Gain ethical approval • Conduct literature review • Gather data • Analyse data • Present findings and conclusions

11. References David , M., Ball, S., Davies, J. and Reay, D. (2003) ‘Gender issues in parental involvement in student choices of higher education’, Gender and Education, 15 (1), pp21-36 Foskett, N., Dyke, M., Maringe, F. (2008) ‘The influence of the school in the decision to participate in learning post 16’, British Educational Research Journal, 34 (1), pp. 37-61 Foskett, N., Roberts, D., Maringe, F. (2006) Changing fee regimes and their impact on student attitudes to higher education, HEFC report Heath, S., Fuller, A., & Paton, K. (2007) ‘Life course, generation and educational decision making within networks of intimacy’, BERA Annual Conference, London, 6-8 September,2007 Maringe, F (2006) ‘University and course choice: implications for positioning, recruitment and marketing’, International Journal of Educational Management, 20 (6) pp. 406-470 Reay, D., Davies, J., David, M., Ball, S.J. (2001) ‘Choices of degree or degree of choice? Class, ‘race’ and the Higher Education Choice Process’, Sociology, 35 (4), pp.855-874