Understanding higher education access: Inequalities and early learning in low and lower-middle-income countries

Globally, access to higher education has increased, but inequalities by socio-economic background remain. This article explores the relationship between early schooling opportunities (and learning) and progression into higher education in four low and middle-income countries. We analyse data from the Young Lives longitudinal study, following cohorts of young people from age 5 to 22 in four country settings: Ethiopia, Peru, Vietnam and India. We reveal wide variability in higher education participation between the four countries, with a common pattern of a very strong association between early learning and later higher education participation, even after allowing for a range of demographic characteristics. Whilst early learning is important in predicting later higher education participation, we also find that significant barriers to higher education participation remain for low socio-economic status groups, even if they initially show good levels of learning. We track the trajectories of children who have initial good levels of learning, and hence arguably the potential to progress to higher education, and assess the extent to which socio-economic background plays a mediating role in these trajectories. Pupils with initially good levels of learning at primary school age, but who are from poor backgrounds, fall back in terms of their relative attainment during secondary schooling years. This implies that socio-economic status continues to be a barrier to educational attainment throughout these children’s lives. We discuss the implications of these findings for policy initiatives aimed at narrowing inequalities in higher education access in poorer countries.     

Social inequalities in early childhood competences,and the relative role of social and emotional versus cognitive skills in predicting adult outcomes

This study draws on the nationally representative British Birth Cohort Study (BCS70) to examine (1) the association between social background and early socio-emotional and cognitive competences at age 5 and (2) the relative and independent contributions of early socio-emotional and cognitive competences to educational and socio-economic attainment in adulthood. A multi-dimensional (multiple exposure, multiple outcome) approach is adopted in conceptualising social background, childhood competences and adult outcomes by age 42. Indicators of social background include parental education, social class, employment status, family income, as well as home ownership, enabling us to test which aspects of socio-economic risk uniquely influence the development of early competences. Indicators of childhood competences include directly assessed cognitive competences (i.e. verbal and visual motor skills), while measures of socio-emotional competences include hyperactivity, good conduct, emotional health and social skills, reported by the child’s mother at age 5. Adult outcomes include highest qualifications, social class and household income by age 42. The findings suggest that multiple indicators of social background are associated with both socio-emotional and cognitive competences, although the associations with socio-emotional competences are less strong than those with cognitive competences. We find significant long-term predictive effects of early cognitive skills on adult outcomes, but also independent effects of socio-emotional competences, in particular self-regulation, over and above the role of family background. The study supports calls for early interventions aiming to reduce family socio-economic risk exposure and supporting the development of cognitive skills and self-regulation (i.e. reducing hyperactivity and conduct problems).     

Teacher and child variables as predictors of academic engagement among low‐income African American children

A causal model for understanding the complex interplay between student‐reported teacher behaviors, student self‐systems, and student engagement was tested. One hundred seventeen African American students in grades 1 through 12 completed a comprehensive questionnaire regarding teacher context, self, and engagement variables. A series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test the hypothesized mediation models and to construct a path model. Most hypotheses were supported. Student self‐system variables (perceived competency and autonomy) mediated relations between teacher context (structure and autonomy support), and engagement. Contrary to predictions, however, teacher involvement exerted a strong and direct effect on student engagement even when controlling for grade level and self‐system variables. Given existing research showing that African American students are at risk for low teacher involvement and that engagement is critical for academic success, research and intervention strategies are urgently needed to promote teacher involvement with these students. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Individual differences in infants' information processing: reliability, stability, and prediction

A group of 46 full-term and 54 high-risk preterm (less than 1,500 grams birthweight) infants were tested at 6, 7, and/or 8 months of age (corrected age for preterms) on a battery of problems assessing visual recognition memory and tactual-visual cross-modal transfer. At all 3 ages, scores obtained on aggregates of 6-11 problems in the battery significantly predicted 3-year Stanford-Binet IQ: correlations ranged from r = .37 to r = .63, and clustered between r = .50 and r = .60. When aggregates from 2 or 3 ages were used as predictors, multiple correlations were as high as R = .60 and R = .70. Cutoffs for predicting children at risk for mental retardation (IQ less than 70) or cognitive delay (IQ less than 85) showed reasonable sensitivity and specificity, although low scores were poor at detecting IQs less than 70. The internal consistency of composites, indexed by alpha coefficients, was unexpectedly low, primarily because the problems shared little variance. However, stability coefficients between assessments as much as 1 and 2 months apart were moderate in magnitude, ranging from r = .30 to r = .50. Considering the high degree of predictive validity, the stability figures appear to be better estimates of reliability for these measures than are indices of internal consistency. The relations reported here were similar for both full-terms and preterms.     

Show and Tell: Making museums... making meaning!

I have something for the museum. Our day begins with these words most days. Participation inShow and Tell is inviting and valued in our classroom. Using the museum as a framework, each child's contribution reflects his or her choice and sparks daily enthusiasm in an exhibit children are building.Rose C. Merenda is Associate Professor, Henry Barnard School, Rhode Island College, Providence, R.I.     

Racism in Interracial Dating: A Case Study in Southern Culture and Fundamentalism

This article presents a case study of Bob Jones University (BJU), a fundamentalist Christian institution located in South Carolina that is known within the context of U.S. higher education for its conservatism on multiple levels. Our analysis traces the beliefs of the institution's founder and subsequent leaders, in addition to particular religious, cultural, and social influences, all of which shaped BJU's institutional policies, including the university's racial practices. We believe that BJU's policies can best be understood from the contexts of two primary influential forces: its Southern cultural heritage (specifically, the culture-of-honor that has existed within the Deep South of the United States) combined with its fundamentalist moorings. Although BJU's policies have historically differed markedly from other Christian institutions regarding racism, we believe that the present study may be helpful in illustrating important historical lessons that possess potential contemporary applications for higher education policy and prac-tices.     

Visual recognition memory: a predictor of later cognitive functioning in preterms

A number of preterms who had participated in a study of visual recognition memory when they were 6 months of age were seen at older ages to assess the predictive validity of the early visual measures for cognitive outcome. The Bayley scales were administered at 6, 12, and 24 months, the Stanford-Binet at 34 and 40 months, and the WISC-R at 6 years. Novelty scores, which reflect the relative amount of time infants look at new compared to familiar stimuli, constituted the measure of infant visual processing. These scores, obtained by averaging over performance on the 3 or 4 problems administered at 6 months of age, were consistently and significantly related to cognitive measures from 24 months to 6 years, with correlations ranging from r = .53 to r = .66. Parental education, which was unrelated to novelty scores, bore a strong relationship to outcome beginning at 24 months. Although both measures contributed uniquely to the variance in cognitive outcome at 24 months and 6 years, visual novelty scores made a stronger contribution than did parental education. Neither 6- nor 12-month Bayley scores, nor various perinatal variables, were related to outcome.     

Informed consent,gatekeepers and go‐betweens: negotiating consent in child and youth‐orientated institutions

Gaining informed consent from research participants is widely regarded as central to ethical research practice. This article reports on research which sought to identify contemporary practice in this area amongst researchers working in fields where research participants are often constructed as vulnerable within the research process, and where their potential involvement tends to be mediated by institutional gatekeepers. Drawing on telephone interview and focus group data, the article focuses specifically on the experiences of researchers working with children and young people. It highlights the tensions experienced by many researchers between a personal commitment to an ethical framework which seeks to prioritise the agency and competency of children and young people, and the conditions imposed upon them by working within institutional settings where these principles may be undermined. This research suggests that the consent practices of child‐ and youth‐orientated institutions, however much frowned upon, tend to go largely unchallenged by researchers, to the detriment of the rights of children and young people to opt in and out of research on their own behalf.     

Librarian participation in expanding the pool of potential medical students

This article reports on the results of an exploratory survey to determine if librarians actively participate in medical school student recruiting programs. It looks specifically at what librarians are doing to assist with recruitment and what biomedical career resources their libraries offer. The survey link was e-mailed to all U.S. medical school library directors, who were asked to forward it to the appropriate librarian. Out of 113 medical schools, 68 (60%) responded to most questions. Forty-three (86%) of 50 item respondents do participate in such activities, and 29 (67%) of 43 item respondents have been doing so for more than five years. Thirty-two (64%) of 50 item respondents provide resources on biomedical careers in the libraries.     

Psychological Capital,Well-being,and Distress of International Students

International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling - International students continue to experience myriad of challenges, some of which further transpired disproportionately during the...