Where they go, what they do and why it matters: The importance of geographic accessibility and social class for decisions relating to higher education institution type, degree level and field of study

The factors influencing the decision of school leavers to participate in higher education has been extensively investigated previously. This has mainly focused on the influence of characteristics such as parental education level, social class and spatial factors on the decision to participate in higher education at a broad level. However, given the influence the type of tertiary education pursued may have on future labour market outcomes, an understanding of the factors behind more specific higher education outcomes decisions is important. Within this context, this paper focuses on the influence of geographic accessibility and social class on young people when making decisions relating to higher education institution type, degree level and field of study pursued using a rich Irish dataset. We estimate this relationship using a bivariate probit framework and controlling for a range of other variables we find evidence of significant spatial and socio-economic effects on these higher education outcomes.