Template-type: ReDif-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Traag Tanja 
Author-Name: Lubbers Miranda Jessica 
Author-Name: Velden Rolf van der
Author-workplace-name: ROA rm
Title: That’s what friends are for? The impact of peer characteristics on early school-leaving
Abstract: In this paper we investigate if peer relations affect a student’s risk of early schoolleaving.We use the sociometric data collection from the Dutch “Secondary EducationPupil Cohort 1999” to identify peer relations in a sample of almost 20,000 students inthe first grade of secondary education (mean age 13). This information is matched todata on educational attainment from 1999 to 2010 for these students, to measure laterearly school-leaving by both the focal students as well as their peers. Our results showthat both being friends with future early school-leavers as well as popularity amongfuture early school-leavers increases the risk of students to be early school-leaverslater in their educational career while other characteristics of the peer group such asgender composition, ethnic composition, average (non)cognitive skills and averagesocioeconomic background have no effects on the risk of early school-leaving. And whilecharacteristics like gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background play an importantrole in peer selection, the future dropout status does not have a major impact on peerselection.
Keywords: labour market entry and occupational careers; 
Series: Research Memoranda
Creation-Date: 2012
Number: 006
File-URL: http://arnop.unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=25887
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 338463
Handle: RePEc:unm:umaror:2012006