Institutional college-going culture and college choice process

Abstract

The following paper examines the existence of a “go-to university” institutional culture in secondary schools and its influence over the students’ academic enrolment in selective universities. In the present research, the “go-to university” institutional culture is understood as the combination of the institutional habitus and the promotion of tertiary studies carried out by schools. In order to fulfill the objectives, a survey was conducted among key actors of four different schools with dissimilar socioeconomic status based in the province of Concepcion, Chile. We assessed the impact of this institutional culture through the Hossler and Gallagher (1987) three-phase college choice model (predisposition, search and choice). The results indicate that the existence or absence of a “go-to university” institutional culture represents a series of opportunities that can either widen or limit the range of possibilities concerning the students’ decision-making process.