Can role models help to increase the motivation of young people from low socio-economic backgrounds to attend university? As part of a guest stay and a LIfBi Lecture at the beginning of November, Prof. Dr. David Reimer from the University of Iceland presented two studies from Denmark that are experimentally pursuing this approach and delivering promising results.

As early as in the EU-funded LIFETRACK project, David Reimer, at that time professor at Aarhus University (DK), cooperated with LIfBi researchers to conduct a cross-national comparison of how different institutional arrangements in secondary education systems influence the emergence of social inequality over the life course. Reimer is particularly interested in how social class, gender or ethnic inequalities are affected and moderated by different institutional arrangements across Europe and beyond. 

Cold vs. hot knowledge
Based on two recent field studies from Denmark, Reimer showed that not only information deficits, but also emotional and social barriers can discourage young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds from attending university. In the first study, the effects of a combined information and role model interventions were tested: On the one hand, students received statistical information on the outcomes of higher education (“cold knowledge”) and, on the other hand, were shown video testimonials that addressed emotional and psychological aspects such as fears or social reservations ("hot knowledge"). This intervention led to a significant increase in expectations of university studies and also to an increase of applications to the central admissions system among students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The follow-up study consisted of a similar yetm more complex intervention. Again, the results suggest that role model videos are more effective in reducing inequality in access to higher education than statistical information alone.

Cross-national reasearch
During the second part of his lecture Reimer presented the new ERC Consolidator Grant funded project EDUCHANGE (www.educhange.hi.is) which builds on his previous research findings. The project examines the effectiveness of similar strategies for reducing inequality at the transition to upper secondary and higher education in different contexts across countries. Therefore, Germany, Hungary, Denmark and Iceland are compared.

Guest stay in Bamberg
In the Q&A session following the LIfBi Lecture, the audience engaged in a lively discussion with the speaker about the methodology and the possibilities of adding further aspects to the field experiments presented. During his three-day stay in Bamberg, David Reimer was also on hand for individual consultations and expert discussions. The offer was well received by LIfBi researchersb who took the opportunity to discuss planned research projects, specific NEPS questionnaire content and possible optimizations of future surveys or to exchange ideas on topics such as experimental design and causal analysis.

David Reimer at Island University Reasearch Portal