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Inequality of Opportunity in Tertiary Education: Evidence from Europe
[journal article]
Abstract This study provides comparable lower-bound estimates of inequality of opportunity for tertiary education (EIOp) for 31 countries in Europe, by using the two EU-SILC waves for which information on family background is available (2005 and 2011). The results reveal an important degree of heterogeneity,... view more
This study provides comparable lower-bound estimates of inequality of opportunity for tertiary education (EIOp) for 31 countries in Europe, by using the two EU-SILC waves for which information on family background is available (2005 and 2011). The results reveal an important degree of heterogeneity, with Northern European countries showing low levels of inequality of opportunity and Mediterranean and Eastern European countries characterized by significant degrees of unfair educational inequalities. Parental education and occupation are the most relevant circumstances in the great majority of the countries considered. This study also exploits the two point-in-time observations available and analyses the relationship between some country-specific characteristics and inequality of opportunity in tertiary education. The analysis documents a negative association between EIOp and real GDP per capita, possibly indicating that higher equality of opportunity in tertiary education and economic growth are complementary objectives. Two results emerge as especially robust: in all the specifications we find a positive association between EIOp and the students/teacher ratio, and a negative one between EIOp and public spending in tertiary education. While we do not claim that such correlations should be interpreted causally, we think that they might indicate a meaningful underlying relationship between equality of opportunity in tertiary education and the availability of financial and non-financial resources.... view less
Keywords
equal opportunity; inequality; educational inequality; social inequality; Europe
Classification
University Education
General Sociology, Basic Research, General Concepts and History of Sociology, Sociological Theories
Free Keywords
Inequality of opportunity; Higher education; EU-SILC 2005 and 2011
Document language
English
Publication Year
2022
Page/Pages
p. 514-565
Journal
Research in Higher Education, 63 (2022) 3
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-021-09658-4
ISSN
1573-188X
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed