Examination of educational continuation decisions from Year 10 to tertiary entrance indicates that the major decision point appears to be at the end of Year 10. This is true even for persons entering tertiary education. Policies aimed at altering the social composition of high school graduates or tertiary sector participants should therefore be aimed at the Year 10 threshold or at even earlier stages in the educational process. However, as differences in participation in education amongst various socioeconomic groups appear to reflect differences in attitudes rather than purely financial factors, it may be difficult for authorities to expand school retention in the short term.
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Miller et al. (1989) studied this question.
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