Browsing by Author "Salminen, Tuukka"

Aims. The aim of the present study was to find out, whether the educational choices of closest high school friends were linked. The study seeks to answer these questions: Do closest friends in lower secondary school have higher than average probability to end up in the same educational sector after lower secondary education? Do the educational choices of closest friends predict whether different educational sectors are considered after lower secondary education? Previous surveys have mapped the different reasons for educational choices using Likert-scales, which measure opinions. Qualitative research and statistics, however, have questioned the individualistic picture the results from these surveys paint. Methods. Data from VET Student Survey 2017 was used, which was collected in early 2017. Answers from only first and second year students aged 15 to 19 were analysed (n=3577). The respondents had Finnish nationality, spoke only Finnish or Swedish, and had no previous studies in addition to lower secondary education. The average proportions of vocational education and training (VET) and general upper secondary school among the respondents’ closest friends, who had continued from lower secondary education to upper secondary level, was calculated. These proportions were compared with the averages among all people who had continued from lower secondary level to upper secondary level using a binomial test. The association between the educational choices of closest friends and considering general upper secondary school instead of VET was examined with two proportion z-test and via a logistic regression model, in which the student’s grade point average and the educational level of parents were controlled for. Results and conclusions. The educational choices of closest friends were linked with the possibility of ending up in a certain educational sector after lower secondary school. The educational choices of closest friends predicted considering general upper secondary school instead of VET even when the effects of the student’s grade point average and the educational level of parents were taken into consideration.