“I Just Don’t Fit There!” Anticipated Cultural Mismatch and Social Disparities in Students’ Intention to Enter Higher Education

Abstract

Despite political and societal efforts to reduce social inequality in education, students from nonacademic households (no parent holds a university degree) are less likely to enter higher education than their peers from academic households. Drawing on Cultural Mismatch Theory, we tested whether social disparities in enrollment intentions are related to students’ anticipated mismatch between their self-construal and expected higher education culture. Experimental data (N = 264) revealed a corresponding mismatch effect between students’ self-construal and expected culture on their anticipated fit in a higher education program. In addition, field data (N = 574) from upper secondary school students revealed that students from nonacademic households more strongly anticipate a mismatch and, in turn, have a lower intention to enter higher education. Corroborating our theorizing, these social disparities are contingent on the expected culture in higher education. These findings highlight the role of students’ self-construal and anticipated fit for higher education enrollment.