Using data from two Toronto student cohorts that entered high school five years apart, this study uses descriptive and multivariate techniques to examine short-term change in the predictors of four possible pathways after high school: confirming a place in university, confirming a place in college, applying but no admittance, or not applying at all.
These factors include race, gender, and immigration background to early achievement, attendance, and suspensions. Even across a short time period, there is change in transition patterns. The results highlight that a comparative cohort approach provides insight into how the transition to post-secondary education in an urban environment changes even over relatively short periods of time.
PhD
Graduate Chair Professor, Sociology
Ontario Research Chair in Educational Achievement and At-Risk Youth
Areas of interest: Race & Ethnicity, Social inequality; Education
Robson, K., Pullman, A., Maier, R., Anisef, P. & Brown, R. (2021). What matters more? What matters less? Changes in the transition to post-secondary between two Toronto high-school cohorts. Canadian Journal of Higher Education / Revue canadienne d’enseignement supérieur, 51(2), 15–32. Available online here.