Proceedings of the 8th World Conference on Qualitative Research

This paper explores factors and processes that influence the choice of post-secondary educational (PSE) pathways in Singapore. Specifically, how personal resources (i.e., social factors such as family, teachers and peers) and psychological processes facilitate decision-making as they contemplate vocational technical education (VET). Understanding protective and enabling factors is especially interesting in a high performing system like Singapore.
This paper includes qualitative interview data from 18 participants who also participated in a larger mixed method longitudinal study of 1271 students who attended or are attending the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Singapore’s primary VET institution. The audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and coded using descriptive codes in Nvivo 14.
The unevenness of post-secondary pathways and transitions is clear. Many interviewees were enrolled into ITE courses that were not their first choice and many of them did not continue to similar areas of study after the ITE. Their lack of awareness of post-secondary options and resistance to embarking on this less favored path is evident. Decision-making is influenced by various factors, but it is undergirded by desire for stability and securing of economically viable jobs. Family and peer support exists but in a highly dynamic educational landscape like Singapore’s, those who have limited exposure due to lower socio-economic resources struggle and are unable to keep current of options. Students with more well-educated parents do get more concrete support processing their options.
Singapore students are known for their stellar performance in international benchmark tests from K-12 and the post-secondary landscape has intentionally diversified to allow the least academically inclined students to achieve higher qualifications. This paper provides a qualitative glimpse of what these adolescents value, and how the system and individuals in it guide and shape these choices.