ABSTRACT

Drawing on the data provided by Russian panel study ‘Trajectories in Education and Careers’ (TrEC), we explore the different rationales pupils employ in deciding their education path in grade nine. Drawing on the relative risk aversion theory we show how young people’s decision-making logics are aimed at class maintenance and risk management. Using a qualitative methodology we show that the decision to continue into grade ten with the view to enter a university program is largely a ‘non-decision’ informed by class-appropriate ambition. While students from higher socio-economic backgrounds ‘automatically’ enrol in grade ten, students of lower socio-economic backgrounds tend to opt for vocational education in the hope of ‘fast-tracking’ to adulthood and the world of work. Drawing on the concept of a ‘cultural narrative’ we also demonstrate that what is considered ‘rational,’ ‘safe’, ‘risky,’ etc. is both class- and culture-specific.

摘要

利用俄罗斯小组研究“教育和职业轨迹”（TrEC）提供的数据，我们探索了学生在决定九年级学习路径时采用的不同原理。利用相对风险规避理论，我们展示了年轻人的决策逻辑如何针对班级维护和风险管理。使用定性方法，我们表明，为了进入大学课程而进入十年级的决定很大程度上是由与班级相适应的野心所决定的“非决定性”决定。来自较高社会经济背景的学生会“自动”入读十年级，而具有较低社会经济背景的学生则倾向于选择职业教育，以期“快速追随”成年和工作环境。