Raising Educational Aspirations – An Experimental Evaluation

The number of students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds completing college education in Portugal is low. A possible reason is the lack of educational aspirations of these students, who have limited contact with college graduates in their daily lives.

This project implements a randomized controlled trial to test the hypothesis that an intervention as simple as a one-day visit to a university campus can increase the educational aspirations and academic performance of disadvantaged students. This type of campus visit is common internationally, but has not yet been investigated in the context of educational decision-making. This is a low-cost intervention that is easy to replicate on a large scale and can potentially contribute to reducing the problem of educational inequality in countries with significant immigrant, ethnic and linguistic minorities in contexts that undermine educational aspirations.

Funding

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

Partnerships