Educational Aspiration Gap
Using data of the ifo Education Survey, we address the question which educational degrees Germans want their children to have. 74 percent of German university graduates, but only 36 percent of those without a university degree favor a university degree for their children. When participants are informed about earnings differences between academics and non-academics and about available student aid in survey experiments, the gap in educational aspirations widens even further. These results cast doubt that ignorance of economic returns and costs of studying explains educational inequality in Germany.
Here you can learn more about my research on this topic.
My most important academic paper on the topic is:
Does Ignorance of Economic Returns and Costs Explain the Educational Aspiration Gap? Representative Evidence from Adults and Adolescents (with P. Lergetporer and K. Werner). Economica 88 (351): 624-670, 2021 [tweet] [video]