A longitudinal study of undergraduate students – BOOST2018

BOOST2018 is a longitudinal study led by Adeline Delavande and Emilia Del Bono of undergraduate students at a UK university who started university in October 2015. Using 4 surveys per year (either online or in a social science lab) linked with administrative data from the university, the study collects detailed information on students’ investments at university (e.g., study hours, attendance), subjective expectations (e.g., about the returns of investments in terms of grade, about the returns of academic and non-academic achievement in the labour markets), cognitive skills (e.g., IQ test), non-cognitive skills (e.g., grit, growth mindset, personality traits) and preferences (e.g, time and risk preferences) as well as their academic achievement (marks) and other relevant experience (work placement, volunteering). The overarching goal is to understand the role of subjective expectations, preferences, skills and access to information in the processes generating socio-economic inequalities in higher education outcomes in the UK.