10.7910/DVN/ACRFJMCox, LoretoLoretoCox0000-0001-6068-0018Pontificia Universidad Católica de ChileHarvard Dataverse2023Social SciencesUnmet expectationsHigher educationIdeologyPolitical behaviorCox, LoretoLoretoCoxCox, LoretoLoretoCoxPontificia Universidad Católica de Chile2023-05-302023-09-26240365591018131915403116822133849284247387815application/pdfapplication/gzipapplication/x-rlang-transportapplication/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheettext/plainapplication/x-rlang-transporttype/x-r-syntaxtype/x-r-syntaxapplication/x-rlang-transport1.0Higher education has massively expanded around the world, yet we know little about the political consequences of this expansion. Students generally have overly optimistic expectations about the returns to educational investment and the effects of unmet expectations on graduates’ political behavior have been overlooked. I study this phenomenon in Chile with observational and experimental methods, using unique panel survey data collected from new graduates covering 72% of higher education enrollment. The survey tracks students before and after they enter the labor market and includes an experiment that induces variation in their expectations. The panel data reveals that 65% of students have unmet expectations, and both methods indicate that this induces a shift toward pro-government/pro-equality ideology. Overall, this study shows that the gap between aspirations and reality upon graduation can be an important driver of political attitudes.This dataset underwent an independent verification process that replicated the tables and figures in the primary article. For the supplementary materials, verification was performed solely for the successful execution of code. The verification process was carried out by the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. <br></br> The associated article has been awarded Open Materials and Open Data Badges. Learn more about the Open Practice Badges from the <a href="https://osf.io/tvyxz/wiki/home/" target="_blank">Center for Open Science</a>.<br></br> <img src="https://odum.unc.edu/files/2020/03/OpenData_PR-1.png" alt="Open Data Badge" height="77" width="80"> <img src="https://odum.unc.edu/files/2020/03/OpenMaterials_PR-1.png" alt="Open Materials Badge" height="77" width="80">