A tale of two logics: social reproduction and mobilisation in university access in Quebec, 1945–2000

Abstract

The 2012 Quebec students’ protests against university tuition fees fostered a debate on access to higher education in Quebec, and specifically on the Quebec ‘educational lag’. Using census data, we show that degree-holding is the same among Quebec French-speaking and Ontario English-speaking populations. Using event history analysis, we show that, during the second half of the twentieth century, university access increased at a different rhythm in each province and, within each province, within socio-linguistic groups. Quebec current education policy should not focus on the ‘educational lag’, which past policies have helped make up for, but on inequality in university access.