This article outlines and interprets the results of a pilot study designed to evaluate the impact of various social and personal factors on the decision process stages (DPS) through which years 7-12 high school students proceed in choosing to undertake study in the university sector of higher education in Australia. The article also examines the associated effects of background factors influencing participation in higher education generally. Complex patterns of predictive associations between the factors and seven DPS which appear to operate differently during the various years of high school are outlined. The differences are described in terms of six general categories of predictors. Comparative studies evaluating the effects of background factors on participation in higher education are examined to broaden the contextual base of the research findings and to identify the contribution of theories of social change, with particular emphasis on the meritocratic thesis. The interpretation of the research findings is assisted by relating them to Erik Erikson's developmental framework concerned with the growth of the conscious self or personal identity.
Given the perceptions of crisis and the realities of change being experienced in secondary and higher education in North America (see Keller, 1983), Australia (see Le Claire, 1988a), Europe and elsewhere (see Clark, 1985), an area of increasing interest and social concern (e.g., Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission, 1982;Keller, 1983;Kotler & Fox, 1985) is the development of strategies to allocate more effectively, efficiently and equitably limited educational resources to meet the needs of potential consumers of higher education. If the providers of higher educational services are to develop definitive policies which will address the realities of change and crisis it is, as discussed by Simon (1957), imperative that an understanding of the underlying decision processes be developed in order that the bases of choosing to undertake higher education study can be more completely understood and addressed.
Numerous studies have been conducted worldwide on the analysis of factors influencing transition to higher education (e.g. Blackburn et al., 1985;Grunde, 1976;Smith & Cheung, 1986). In particular, Elsworth and Day (1983) note that the meritocratic model (Young, 1958) has generated more research on higher education in Australia, particularly on factors influencing transition to higher education, than practically any other issue. Yet, relatively few studies (e.g. Chapman, 1981;Hooley & Lynch, 1981;Jackson, 1982) have been conducted on the analysis of the dynamic nature and content of the decision