Choosing Futures: Influence of Ethnic Origin in University Choice.
Purpose – This paper aims to determine the role of ethnic origin on university application among Leicester college students.Design/methodology/approach – The approach takes the form of a quantitative survey of 427 students in sixth form colleges in Leicester.Findings – Five distinct motivational factors were derived from a survey of 427 sixth form college students in Leicester (UK). For all ethnic groups, the student's career is the most important motivating factor; the other motivators are, however, more varied. The influence of the family was most important among Pakistani and African students. Indian and “other” Asian students were most strongly associated with academic and social motivators. White applicants, on the other hand, had no relative strengths with regard to common motivators. What was perhaps more apparent was how unimportant family was on influencing choice. There were also differences between the ethnic groups and the university type applied for. While Afro‐Caribbeans had 100 per cent acc...