Aspirations of Canadian youth for higher education : Aspirations des jeunes Canadiens à des études avancées : rapport final

Such beliefs about the job relevance of education are one of the strongest predictors of educational aspirations, playing a substantial role, independent of academic performance and other factors, in the anticipated pathways of young people. [...] These differences are not due solely to differences in educational attainment of parents, nor to any difference in the extent to which education is considered important to either the parent or the student. [...] Aspirations of Canadian youth for higher education 1 On the basis of these profiles, the results of a series of multivariate analyses are presented. [...] Examining Figure 2, the key source of the difference in educational aspirations seems to be cultural, with the different educational structure in Quebec versus the rest of Canada constituting a subsidiary factor. [...] The effect of parental education is seen both in the desire to pursue education beyond high school, and in the type and extent of post-secondary education desired.