Abstract:

The expansion of higher education has been playing two fundamental contributions across the world. First, it promotes economic growth by producing competent human power. Second, it increases the youth’s participation in higher education including the disadvantaged social groups. As a result, the doors of higher education have also been opened to students who have completed vocational training to pursue their studies. In Hungary, vocational education allows students to either pursue higher education after grade 12 or gain a vocational qualification in grade 13, with both options leading to higher education opportunities. Accordingly, understanding students’ decisions and the factors influencing them is crucial. This study aims to examine the further education decisions and their determinant factors of students in vocational education and training in the 12th and 13th grades. A survey research design was employed to investigate the intentions and factors influencing Hungarian vocational education students’ decisions to continue their studies. The sample included 1,184 students from grade 12 and 668 students from grade 13. Data were collected through an online survey administered during school hours. A questionnaire was used to explore the students' decisions to pursue further education and the factors affecting these decisions, such as motivation to learn, self-efficacy, executive function, parents' education level, and other socio-demographic characteristics. The analysis by independent samples t-test showed clear differences (p > 0.05) in the decision to continue education between the two groups of students, as well as in several factors. Grade 12 students were more motivated to go to higher education than grade 13 students. However, the logistic regression showed that motivation was found to increase the probability of deciding to continue education for both grades. In the assessment of the other influencing factors, the regression analyses revealed that several variables have significant impacts on their choices. Specifically, the mother’s education level, attending extra classes in the afternoon, and spending time on studying have significant predicting impacts (p > 0.05) on students’ decisions for further education. These factors suggest that students with higher levels of parental education, those who take additional learning activities, and those who spend more time in studying are likely to decide to continue their studies after vocational training. On the other hand, self-delay and poorer functioning of working memory reduce the likelihood of deciding to continue education in both grades. The possible reason may be that students who are self-delayed and poor in working memory cannot be successful in academic affairs, lose self-confidence, and make the decision not to continue their education. For grade 12 students, having more confidence in their abilities (self-efficacy) and the mother's education level have a significant predictive power for further higher education. This study contributes to understanding the factors that influence vocational education students’ decisions to pursue further education. By examining the roles of motivation, self-efficacy, and socio-demographic factors, it highlights key predictors of students’ intentions to continue their studies. The findings of the study are valuable for both higher education and vocational education systems as well as for educators and researchers.

Keywords:

Further education decisions, vocational education, higher education, upper secondary school.