‘Because my friends are’: the impact of peer groups on the intention to stay on at sixteen

Abstract

This article presents an empirical investigation into the role of peer groups on the intention to continue on to further study by students in full-time education at the age of 16. Estimates are derived via random effects nominal logit regression analysis and data from the Bradford Youth Cohort. Our results suggest that peer groups have a strong and significant impact on whether boys intend to stay on to post-compulsory education, but this is not so for girls. Furthermore, an array of factors appear to influence the intention decision for boys, whereas girls only appear to be influenced by their perceived ability.