Abstract
Along with the rising concerns of career education in school, the government in South Korea has increased investments for closing the opportunity gap in career education. However, limited studies explored the equity in students’ outcomes of career education. Focusing on career development competencies, we examined if school career education could reduce the socio-economic disparities in the career development of high school students. We used the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression applying school-fixed effects with the representative data from the Korean Education and Employment Panel II. Findings showed that parental education level was positively linked to career development competencies of high school students, though household income was not shown as statistically significant. We also found that for students who engaged in career and vocational classes in school, the parental education level was less likely to be related to their career development competencies. Also, students who were more satisfied with school career education showed a weaker relationship between career development competencies and parental education level. Based on these findings, we discussed the role of school-based career education to narrow the gap in students’ career development from socio-economic backgrounds.
Highlights
Socio-economic disparities in education have been a well-acknowledged social problem in many countries
We empirically examined a socio-economic gap in the career development competencies of high school students
Our findings indicated that the experiences of career and vocational classes and the satisfaction with career education in school negatively moderated the relationship between the parental education level and career development competencies
Summary
Socio-economic disparities in education have been a well-acknowledged social problem in many countries. In South Korea, the parents’ socio-economic status is known to affect the occupational outcomes of their children as well as educational attainments [1]. Students in poverty are suffering from the high risk of deprivation and exclusion in preparing for their career path, resulting from insufficient financial and emotional supports from parents [2,3,4]. An increasing body of literature has concerned that the influence of parental background on students’ career development might become a mechanism causing social stratification and inequality [5]. School career education had been rapidly expanded in South Korea by training school career counselors, allocating funds for career education, and developing a variety of career development programs [6]. More than 94% of secondary schools in South
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