Recently there has been growing interest in the relationship between cognitive and non-cognitive abilities and labour market outcomes. A large literature provides evidence on the positive connection between cognitive test scores and higher wages. Fewer and newer papers have explored the correlation between non cognitive test scores and wages. However, attention is focused on developed countries. Test scores suffer two limitations. First, they can be considered outcomes of the schooling level and latent (unobserved) cognitive and non-cognitive abilities.

This paper aims to contribute to understand the mechanisms underlying the complex exclusion process of indigenous people in Peru, by analysing the role played by aspirations in the investment in education of indigenous children. Aspirations of indigenous children are quite similar to those of non-indigenous children when comparing children with the same socio-economic status. However, indigenous children differ tremendously according to their aspiration gap, that measure the distance between the socio-economic status they aspire to reach and their current one.