To Benefit From an Educational Program, You Need to Participate. Participation Patterns in an Educational Intervention Promoting College Access

• Published in: Journal for educational research online 2023-01, Vol.15 (1), p.95-118
• Main Authors: Pietrzyk, Irena, Helbig, Marcel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Careers; Clinical trials; Counseling; Educational Sociology; Enrollments; Equal Education; Higher education; Intervention; Market entry; Participation; Secondary school students; Secondary schools; Young adults
• ISSN: 1866-6671
• DOI: 10.31244/jer0.2023.01.05

The number of extracurricular educational programs has risen in recent decades throughout Europe. The effect of such interventions depends on the extent to which different groups participate in the programs. Hence, we study whether we can observe the emergence of unfavorable participation patterns with regard to students in need of extra support in a college counseling program fostering college access and whether the unfavorable participation pattern results from selection by the teachers or from self-selection by the students. The investigated group includes 528 students who were randomly assigned to the treatment condition as part of a randomized controlled trial. Our results show that students in need of extra support (low college-going intentions and low academic achievement) are much less likely to participate in the program than the respective comparison groups, due to both forms of selection. We discuss possible consequences of this participation pattern on the program's effect on educational disparities.