Various studies (Buchmann & Park, 2009; Dupriez, Monseur & Van Campenhoudt, 2009; Marks, 2010) have shown that pupil’s school achievement is strongly related to the career or educational expectations: young people with more difficulties at school have les expectations. In addition, more recently, some studies have also shown the importance of the school average ability. In fact, for most young people, the school background is the main frame of reference they face every day. Concerning the school average achievement effect related to career expectations, on one hand, Marsh and colleagues (Marsh, 1991; Marsh & O’Mara, 2010; Nagengast et Marsh, 2012), describe that equally able students have lower career expectations when they are in high achieving schools (phenomenon known as the big-fish-little-pond-effect (BFLPE)). They obtain this result for a lot of countries. On the other hand, some researchers (Dupriez et al., 2012; Dupont et al., 2012) nuance these results: these authors found that the school average negative effect is observed in comprehensive educational systems but not in all differentiated systems (no effect or positive effect).

Because of these conflicting results, our objective is to deeply understand the school average effect. According to the social comparison theory, two kinds of social comparisons coexist: self-initiated and forced comparisons. In the case of the school average effect, forced comparisons (imposed by the frame of reference) are stronger than self-initiated comparisons. BFLPE is also known as “contrast effect”, and positive school average as “reflected glory effect”. The contrast effect means that the higher average ability of a school, the lower students feel. The reflected glory effect means that being in a selective school may have positive effect by virtue of being affiliated with a highly selective educational program (like in highly differentiated system). But, are these effects the same for all students? We make the assumption that lower achievers are more influenced by this frame of reference. In our hypothesis, in countries where the BFLPE is observed, the negative effect would be stronger for lower achievers than for higher achievers. In the same ideas, in countries where reflected glory effect is observed, it would be stronger for lower achievers than for higher achievers.

Buchmann, C. & Park, H. (2009), Stratification and the formation of expectations in highly differentiated educational systems. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 27, 245-267. Dupont, V., Monseur, C., Lafontaine, D. & Fagnant, A. (2012). L’impact de la motivation et des émotions sur les aspirations professionnelles des jeunes de 15 ans : une analyse secondaire des données PISA 2003. Revue Française de Pédagogie, 181, 55-70. Dupriez, V., Monseur, C. & Van Campenhoudt, M. (2009). Etudier à l’université : le poids des pairs et du capital culturel face aux aspirations d’études. Les Cahiers de Recherche en Education et Formation, 75. Dupriez, V., Monseur, C, Van Campenhoudt, M . & Lafontaine, D. (2012) Social Inequalities of Post-secondary Educational Aspirations : influence of social background, school composition and insttutional context. European Educational Research Journal, 11, (4), 504-5019. Marsh H. W. (1991). Failure of high-ability school to deliver academic benefits commensurate with their students’ ability levels. American Educational Research Journal. 28, 445-480. Marsh H. W. & O’Mara (2010). Long-term negative effects of school-average ability on diverse educational outcomes: direct and indirect effects of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 24, 51-72. Marks, G.N. (2010). Meritocracy, modernization and students’ occupational expectations: Cross-national evidence. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 8, 275-289. Nagengast, B. & Marsh, H. W. (2012). Big fish in little ponds aspire more: mediation and cross-cultural generalizability of school-average ability effects on self-concept and career aspirations in science. Journal of educational psychology.