School experiences, career guidance, and the university participation of young people from three equity groups in Australia

University participation is a strong predictor of labour market success, personal health and wellbeing, and positive familial and social outcomes. However, in contemporary Australia there remain large differences in university participation rates between young people from advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds. In this report we leverage contemporary longitudinal data for a representative Australian sample of students and employ event-history regression models to examine the associations between equity group membership (coming from a low socio-economic background, non-English-speaking background or a regional/remote area), school factors (career guidance and school experiences), and students’ likelihood to enrol into university. We find evidence that equity group membership reduces the likelihood of university participation (except for non-Englishspeaking backgrounds), whereas receipt of career advice and positive school experiences increase such likelihood. Importantly, school factors more strongly predict subsequent university participation amongst young people from equity groups. These findings are important and policy-relevant, as they suggest that policy initiatives aimed at improving school factors will result in expanded university enrolments, and smaller enrolment gaps between young people from advantaged and disadvantaged social strata.