Determinants of Secondary School Choice in the Czech Republic

The admission process into secondary schools in the Czech Republic involves high risk of ending up at an undesired school if failing to be admitted to one’s preferred school. Hence, the application decision is an important element of the process since individuals have to assess their chances of being admitted. Empirical evidence based on pupils participating in the PISA project suggests that especially the education of parents and cognitive abilities matter to a large extent for a pupil’s application decision. Noncognitive skills are found to have an impact on a pupil’s decision as well, even though the significance and magnitude differ across districts, and, most importantly, genders. Non-cognitive skills of females operate in accordance with intuitive expectations– higher risk associated with the outcome of the admission process in the district increases the importance of non-cognitive abilities with respect to decision-making. The opposite, counter-intuitive outcomes are obtained for males. Explanation and research suggestions are offered.