Choice Making

How and why students make decisions the the key question Futuretrack hopes to answer. Some areas explored in the first stage are:

reasons for subject choice by age, socio-economic background, gender and ethnicity
the influence of family
vocational choices.

In detail

Graph: Why are you here?

Click above to enlarge

Having the right course is the most important reason for choosing a university.Reputation and location are also influential.
Many students say that a campus visit sways their choice.
For international students, good university guides and university reputation are deciding factors in choice making.

Family background is also an important influence on choice making:

34% of students with parents who went to university feel their parents had a big influence on their university choice - compared with 25% of ‘first-generation’ applicants.
‘Second generation’ applicants are significantly more likely to enter HE ‘because their friends were doing so’
Asian students are more likely to choose an institution because it enables them to live at home while studying, especially Asian females.
Black students cite less influences on choice of higher education institution (HEI) than other groups - as if HEI was less important to them than choice of course.

Graph: Why did you choose your course?

Click above to enlarge

Enjoying the subject is the main reason students choose their course. However, students also see their course as an important stepping stone to their career.
Futuretrack also reveals that gender and ethnicity are important in the choice of course.
Students from a lower social class are more likely to choose courses for employment reasons.

Student quotes about choice making

“More information should be given to school leavers about vocational choices. We are given unreasonable expectations that doing a degree and getting into all this debt will automatically mean you'll get a great job at the end of it.” Male, History, Yorkshire and Humberside.

“I feel that students should be encouraged to explore their own paths and especially not to go into HE just because they want the student lifestyle or they have no other idea of what to do.” Female, Linguistics & Classics ,East of England.

“Having spent the year studying the wrong subject, I have realised how important it is to make a realistic decision on degree choices. I needed more help in deciding obtainable goals.” Female, Social Sciences with Arts, Yorkshire and Humberside.

Read the complete report

If you want to read the first stage report in full, contact us for a copy. If you’re a Futuretrack participant why not play with the results yourself? Log-on to the members’ section and search the survey to uncover some fascinating results.