The Impact of Individual, Family, and School Factors on the Upward Educational Mobility of 12th-Grade Urban School Students With Career Aspirations in Technology

Globally, there is growing public concern that quasi-marketized education systems may impede upward educational mobility for impoverished adolescents. This study applies the concepts of human agency, cultural reproduction, and cultural mobility to examine what determines, poses risks to, or has no impact on the chances of technology-oriented youths entering college. Data were collected from 1,116 twelfth-grade students across 29 urban schools using a Chinese version of the PISA questionnaire. Findings showed self-efficacy was a determinant of young people’s chances of college admission, with a predictive strength nearly twice that of family background. Family background was associated with educational outcomes at the inter-school level. For subjective well-being, bullying risked college admission chances, while parental emotional support and parent-child relationships had no effect. Additionally, school resources were ineffective. Given the meaningful role of individual agency, this study recommends that educators and parents provide positive feedback to young people to strengthen their self-efficacy.