| Abstract [eng] |
The number of students enrolled in Lithuanian higher education schools has fallen by 42.7% over the last ten years, while the gap between men and women with higher education grew across the European Union. The EU predicts that there will be a shortage of skilled workers in the future and that people with lower levels of education will face higher unemployment. In view of the national trend and future projections, the problem addressed in this paper is the declining number of students in Lithuania. The aim of this paper is to investigate the attitudes of Lithuanian graduates towards higher education, their academic aspirations and to identify the influencing factors. Higher education is important not only to meet the demand of the labour market, but also for the country's economy. Higher education also fosters social mobility and civic engagement and contributes to a safer society. However, despite the benefits of higher education, the number of students in Lithuania is declining, so the aim was to find out what factors influence attitudes towards higher education. The attitudinal aspect is crucial - attitudes and beliefs are linked to intentions, which lead to actions. The analysis of the literature identified three main factors: gender, gender stereotypes and socio-economic class. Public discourse and the perceived importance of higher education in society are also important. These factors form our environment, which shapes the 'habitus' described by Bourdieu as a set of beliefs and attitudes. In order to investigate the influence of these factors, a survey of Lithuanian graduates (n=585) was conducted. The survey data were statistically analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics software. It was found that graduates with positive attitudes towards higher education are more likely to plan to pursue it than those with negative attitudes. Attitudes towards higher education and academic aspirations are statistically significantly different between higher and lower socio-economic classes, while gender stereotypes do not have an impact. Girls have more positive attitudes towards higher education than boys, but academic aspirations are independent of gender. Graduates who see higher education as important in society and who have a high level of affordability are more likely to plan to pursue higher education and to have a more positive attitude towards it. Affordable tuition fees, access to state-funded places of study and access to a dormitory were identified by graduates as particularly important. Career-related factors, such as better job and salary opportunities and a dream profession, are the most important motivators for graduates to pursue higher education. |
