Socio-Economic Distribution and Higher Education Participation of Students in Kenya

Abstract

<p>The disparity in higher education participation is a perverse problem in most developing<br />countries. The purpose of this study was to examine the socio-economic distribution of<br />students and higher education participation of students in Kenya from three dimensions:<br />students’ parents socio-economic backgrounds, parental occupational status, and parental<br />level of education. The survey sample compromising 581 respondents was selected from<br />three higher education institutions namely; a public university, a private university and a<br />polytechnic institution. Findings indicatethat despite the overall expansion towards mass<br />systems imbalances in participation based on student socio-economic background is a major<br />factor in Kenyan higher education institutions. The study reveals that higher education is<br />selective, not only in terms of type of secondary school students attended but across parental<br />traits such as father’s education and occupation. The economic capacity of parents is very<br />crucial in determining who can take advantage of the best available education provision and<br />how far a student goes up the education ladder. These findings further confirm the perverse<br />social selection and class bias in higher education institutions with students from lower<br />socioeconomic backgrounds less likely to participate in higher education as students from<br />middle and higher socioeconomic backgrounds. This makes higher education access in Kenya<br />to be highly inequitable. This disproportionate representationpresents a major challenge for<br />education policy. In order to achieve equity and enhance access to tertiary level education,<br />amongst all socio-economic groups, the government should seriously address disparities in<br />school outcomes, both at primary school level and between the various secondary school<br />types and barriers to access that are due to financial obstacles.</p>