Self-Esteem and Motivation in the School Community, How Do They Affect Admission to Higher Education?

Abstract

The research sought to determine if there is an effect of the degree of self-esteem and motivation of a student’s grad-uation school establishment in his entry to a university versus a professional technical institute in Chile. The object of study was delimited to students enrolled in entities of Corporación Universidad de Concepción, that is, Uni-versidad de Concepción (UdeC) and Instituto Profesional Virginio Gómez (IPVG), in Ñuble region, corresponding to the years 2018 and 2019. The number of observations equals 2055 students. From an econometric point of view, we estimate the factors that influence the probability that a student has continued his studies at a university (UNIV) instead of a professional institute (IP). We use a binary probit model, since the dependent variable can take two dis-crete values (zero or unity). We measure the degree of self-esteem and motivation through their respective Personal and Social Development Indicator determined by the Quality Indicators Agency of the Ministry of Education. In addition, we incorporate control variables such as: personal characteristics of the student and characteristics of the secondary school. The results obtained reveal that students who graduate from secondary educational establishments with higher self-esteem and motivation are more likely to enter the UdeC than the IPVG. Although the higher education system has made progress in coverage, it must advance in developing public policies that deepen quality, contemplating enhancing emotional formation factors such as self-esteem and motivation.