Investigating stratification within higher education through examining the status of students in different academic majors in terms of cultural, social and economic capital

Abstract

This study was carried out in order to explore the status of stratification within higher education through measuring cultural, economic and social capital of students in major academic disciplines across universities in Urmia, Northwestern Iran.  The findings indicate that there are stratification structures in the presence of students in humanities, engineering, agriculture, science, medicine and its related fields, there is also significant differences between the cultural and economic capital of students in these majors, whereas there is no significant difference among them in terms of social capital. Moreover, the results suggest stratification also exists in terms of the students’ place of study (State, Azad, Payamenoor, Medical Sciences Universities, Non-profit), the type of university (public / private) and type of study (tuition-based / tuition-free). As a result, students admitted to Islamic Azad, Payam-e-Noor and Non-profit Universities enjoy a higher cultural and economic capital in comparison with State University students. These students after graduating and in order to enter work market, act better than lower class students in competitive field of employment and earn more success. As such, the higher educational system reinforces the class structure of society and it can be concluded that the type of university has played an important role in stratification. Key words: Stratification, higher education, cultural capital, economic capital, social capital, major academic disciplines, university.