Raising Aspirations and Higher Education: Evidence from the United Kingdom’s Widening Participation Policy
利用断点回归设计评估英国一项旨在提升弱势学生大学志向的国家政策，发现政策虽提高了志向和义务教育后参与率，但对大学入学率的总体影响微乎其微，质疑了仅靠提升志向减少教育不平等的有效性。
This paper investigates the relationship between aspirations and inequality in higher education participation. Using a regression discontinuity design, I evaluate the impact of a national-scale United Kingdom policy aimed at raising the aspirations toward college education of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds by involving them in outreach activities. The results show that the policy successfully raised the aspirations of the target students and their participation in postcompulsory education. However, its final effect on college enrollment was on the whole negligible, thus casting doubt on the effectiveness of policies that uniquely leverage aspirations to reduce inequality in educational attainment.