The impact of prior education on student success in higher education: how do different school types influence success in different fields of study?

The course of an individual’s education is shaped by a series of pivotaldecisions. Each of these decisions has the potential to influenceeducational pathways and success. This study examines the impact ofupper secondary school type on success in higher education inAustria. Austria offers a high degree of diversification in its educationalsystem, with a range of academic and vocational pathways availablefrom the age of 14. I introduce the concept of disciplinarycounterparts which describes types of high schools and fields of studythat share the same or a similar field of education. Based onadministrative data of students, separate Cox proportional hazardsmodels for 16 fields of study are fitted. The findings indicate that noschool type has a consistently higher graduation probability across allfields of study. Students from business vocational high schools (VHS)and technical VHS have a higher graduation probability in fields ofstudy that are considered disciplinary counterparts than students fromother types of VHS and academic high schools. This study emphasisesthe significance of prior education and the necessity of providingsupport structures for students who change fields between the uppersecondary and tertiary level to enhance success for all students.