Drawing on status attainment models, the authors examine the effects of family, peer, and school factors on expectations to graduate from a university for a sample of high school students in Bogotá, Colombia, and La Paz, Bolivia. The expansion of higher education in these countries has followed different strategies. In Bolivia, the policy has been to increase access to higher education, however at the cost of quality. In Colombia, expansion has been slower and has attempted to improve the quality of education. Although each context is distinct, students in both cities have similar expectations to graduate from a university. Access to education, however, is still very closely tied to socioeconomic background in Bogotá, whereas family structure is the primary factor influencing expectations in La Paz. We conclude that family factors as well as the context of higher education influence the expectations of high school students to graduate from a university.
Aschaffenburg, K., & Maas, I. (1997). Cultural and educational careers: The dynamics of social reproduction. American Sociological Review, 62, 573-487.
2.
Balan, J. (2000). Politicas dereforma dela educacion superior y la Universidad Latinoamericana hacia el final del milenio[The politics of reform in higher education and the Latin American University toward the end of the millennium]. Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma deMéxico, Centro Regional deInvestigaciones Multidisciplinarias; Buenos Aires, Argentina: Centro deEstudios deEstado y Sociedad.
3.
Barber, B. K.,& Buehler, C. (1996). Family cohesion and enmeshment: Different constructs, different effects. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58, 433-441.
4.
Barber, B. K., Chadwick, B.,& Oerter, R. (1992). Parental behaviors and adolescent self-esteem in the United States and Germany. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 128-141.
5.
Barber, B. K.,& Olsen, J. A. (1997). Socialization in context: Connection, regulation, and autonomy in the family, school, and neighborhood, and with peers. Journal of Adolescent Research, 12, 287-315.
6.
Barber, B. K., Stolz, H. E., Olsen, J. A.,& Maughan, S. L. (2004). Parental support, psychological control, and behavioral control: Validation across time and culture. Manuscript submitted for publication.
7.
Bayona, J. F. (1996). Vision dela universidad ante el siglo XXI[The university’vision before the 21st century]. Bogotá, Colombia: Ediciones Uninorte.
8.
Birdsall, N. (1980). A cost of siblings: Child schooling in urban Colombia. Research in Population Economics, 2, 115-150.
9.
Blau, P. M., & Duncan, O. D. (1967). The American occupational structure. New York: John Wiley.
10.
Broaded, C. M. (1997). The limits and possibilities of tracking: Some evidence from Taiwan. Sociology of Education, 70, 36-53.
11.
Buchmann, C.,& Hannum, E. (2001). Education and stratification in developing countries: Areview of theories of research. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 77-102.
12.
Caldwell, J. (1984). Routes to low mortality in poor countries. Population and Development Review, 12, 171-220.
13.
Chirikos, T., Kelley, J., Lamp, G., Sanders, D., & Shea, J. (1971). Human resources in Bolivia: Problems, planning, and policy. Columbus: Center for Human Resource Research, Ohio State University.
14.
Encinas, G. (1977). Post-secondary school plans of twelfth-grade public and private school students in La Paz, Bolivia. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Albany.
15.
Featherman, D. L., & Hauser, R. M. (1978). Opportunity and change. New York: Academic Press.
16.
Forste, R. (1994). The effects of breastfeeding and birth spacing on infant and child mortality in Bolivia. Population Studies, 48, 497-511.
17.
Forste, R. (1995). Effects of lactation and contraceptive use on birth-spacing in Bolivia. Social Biology, 42, 108-123.
18.
Grootaert, C.,& Patrinos, H. A. (1999). The policy analysis of child labor: A comparative study. New York: St. Martin’s.
19.
Instituto Nacional deEstadística [National Institute of Statistics]. (1998). Bolivia. Encuesta nacional dedemografía Y salud, 1998[National demographic and health survey, 1998]. Calverton, MD: Macro International/DHS+ Program.
20.
Kandel, D., & Lesser, G. S. (1969). Parental and peer influences on educational plans of adolescents. American Sociological Review, 34, 213-223.
21.
Levy, D. (1997a). Higher education amid the political-economic changes of the 1990s: Report of the LASA Task Force on higher education. In L. Tyler, M. H. deMagalhaes Castro, H. G. Bull, R. Kent, D. C. Levy, M. Mollis, et al. (Eds.), Contemporary higher education: International issues for the twenty-first century(pp. 3-16). New York: Garland.
22.
Levy, D. (1997b). Issues and concepts. In L. Tyler, M. H. deMagalhaes Castro, H. G. Bull, R. Kent, D. C. Levy, M. Mollis, et al. (Eds.), Contemporary higher education: International issues for the twenty-first century(pp. 17-42). New York: Garland.
23.
Lockheed, M., Fuller, B., & Nyirongo, R. (1989). Family effects on students’ achievement in Thailand and Malawi. Sociology of Education, 62, 239-256.
24.
Montgomery, M.,& Lloyd, C. (1997). Excess fertility, unintended births, and children’s schooling. Policy Research Division(Working Paper No. 100). New York: Population Council.
25.
Palloni, A. (1981). Mortality in Latin America: Emerging patterns. Population and Development Review, 7, 623-647.
26.
Patrinos, H., Velez, M., & Psacharapolous, G. (1994). Language, education, and earnings in Asuncion, Paraguay. Journal of Developing Areas, 29, 57-68.
27.
Post, D. (1990). The social demand for education in Peru: Students’ choice and state autonomy. Sociology of Education, 63, 258-271.
28.
PROFIMILIA [The Association for the Well-Being of Colombian Families]. (2000). Salud sexual y reproductiva en Colombia[Sexual and reproductive health in Colombia]. Calverton, MD: Measure/DHS+, Macro International.
29.
Psacharapolous, G., & Arriagada, A. M. (1989). The determinants of early age human capital formation: Evidence from Brazil. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 37, 683-708.
30.
Psacharapolous, G., & Velez, M. (1993). Educational quality and labor market outcomes: Evidence from Bogota, Colombia. Sociology of Education, 66, 130-145.
31.
Safford, F. (1976). The ideal of the practical: Colombia’s struggle to form a technical elite. Austin: University of Texas Press.
32.
Sandoval, R. P. (1992). La calidad dela educacion: Universidad y cultura popular[The quality of education: The university and popular culture]. Bogotá, Colombia: Tercer Mundo Editores.
33.
Seltzer, J. (1994). Consequences of marital dissolution for children. Annual Reviewof Sociology, 20, 235-266.
34.
Serrano, R. L.,& Serrano, M. (1993). The state of higher education in Colombia. Higher Education, 25, 61-72.
35.
Sewell, W.,& Hauser, R. (1975). Education, occupation, and earnings: Achievement in the early career. New York: Academic Press.
36.
Sewell, W.,& Hauser, R. (1980). The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study of social and psychological factors in aspirations and achievements. Research in Sociology of Education and Socialization, 1, 59-99.
37.
Sewell, W., & Shah, V. (1967). Socioeconomic status, intelligence, and the attainment of higher education. Sociology of Education, 40, 1-23.
38.
Telleria-Geiger, J. L. (1994). Modernizacion dela Universidad Boliviana[Modernization of the Bolivian University]. La Paz, Bolivia: Impreso por W editores.
39.
United Nations. (1993). Report on the world social situation. New York: Author.
40.
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. (2000). Secondary education: Duration, population, and enrollment rates. Available at www.unesco.org/education/information/wer/webtables/Ind6web.xls
41.
Villareal, R. (1993). Crisis dela universidad Boliviana[Crisis of the Bolivian University]. La Paz, Bolivia: Unidad deAnalisis dePoliticas Sociales, Cuadernos deInvestigacion, Mayo.
