How the Non-Cognitive Skill of Myopia Affects Educational Decision-Making Among Japanese Students

In recent times, the number of studies on non-cognitive skills has increased. Apart from using a score for non-cognitive skills (gauged via a questionnaire), many of these investigations involve adult respondents who had already completed their educational careers at the time of the study in question. In this paper, using data on Japanese students, we explore whether the non-cognitive skill “myopia”—acquired during one's early schooling—influences educational decision-making in terms of either leaving the school system or pursuing higher education. Our sample revealed that one's sense of myopia in high school had no effect on attending junior college or university. We examined whether one's sense of myopia, when it came time to choose a high school, had already impacted educational decision-making such that it would continue to have an effect after high school graduation. We found that one's sense of myopia in junior high school had a negative, statistically significant effect on expected years of schooling. Our results suggest that high school students who did not consider their future academic careers while in junior high school are unlikely to be willing to pursue higher education.