What factors promote participation at school among adolescents in secondary education?

Abstract

This study presents an analysis of the factors favouring participation among adolescents in compulsory secondary education in the city of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Catalonia, Spain). The sample was composed of 297 young people with an average age of 15. We investigated the adolescents' concept of participation, enquiring into what principles, behaviours and feelings they identified with it. Also, we questioned them on their purposes for participating and the consequences deriving from their practice. Finally, we enquired into the different spheres in which they thought they could participate. One outstanding finding was that respondents saw participation in much broader terms than simply voting in elections, instead associating it with feelings of belonging, expression and learning. For the adolescents participation brought personal benefits linked to self-esteem, but above all social benefi ts oriented towards community development. The different spheres in which they participated were mostly their families and schools. A regression analysis was carried out, calculating the predictive weight of all the variables relating to participation. Results indicated that adolescents with a broader concept of participation, i.e. those for whom participating brought a wider range of benefits, participated more. Also, higher levels of participation in the family and neighbourhood were related to greater participation at school.