Influence of student’s ability to delay gratification on their educational transition choice

OBJECTIVE: A considerable amount of research identified socio-economic status and cognitive ability as robust predictors, the influence of student’s ability to delay gratification (ADG) on their educational transition choice doesn’t received researcher’s attention. To address this gap, the present study examined the incremental power of students ADG in predicting the dichotomous choice i.e. the choice of general or vocational education after successful completion of compulsory schooling. METHODS: Amid Covid-19 pandemic, cross sectional survey via an online mode was found feasible for the data collection process in our study. An online link of survey questionnaire was created in the Google forms and administered to (N = 1024) grade 8 students in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, India. Multiple binary logistic regressions were conducted to predict the students’ choice, and odds ratios and average marginal effects were reported for better interpretation of results. RESULTS: Our results showed that students tracking choice differed significantly with respect to their gender and locale (smaller effect), ADG (medium effect), and cognitive ability and socio-economic status (larger effect). The probability of choosing the track of vocational education (with general education track as a baseline category) increases as students ADG decreases, and vice versa. This association of student’s ADG with the choice of vocational education track held same over and above the covariates—socio-economic status, cognitive ability, gender and locale. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40461-022-00134-6.