The Perceived Value of Education and Educational Aspirations in the Czech Republic: Changes in the Determination of Educational Aspirations between 1989 and 2003

Abstract

This article compares the changes in the determination of educational aspirations from the end of the communist period in 1989 to 2003, focusing on a single postcommunist country, the Czech Republic. The Czech case is particularly relevant for comparative research on educational inequality and aspirations, as previous studies have shown that — contrary to one of the main goals of communist ideology — socialism did not equalize access to higher education in the long run (see, e.g., Boguszak, Mateju, and Peschar 1990; Hanley and McKeever 1997). Furthermore, the Czech educational system currently generates more inequality in access to higher education as well as a stronger determination of educational aspirations by social origin than is the case in other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries (Mateju, Rehakova, and Simonova 2007; Mateju et al. 2007). On the basis of those findings, this article examines whether and how these strong determining forces have changed over time. The analysis is made possible by the fact that in 1989, just a few months before the collapse of the Czechoslovak communist regime, a survey was carried out on eighth grade elementary school pupils (around 15 years of age) and their parents, focusing primarily on the process of the formation of beliefs about life success and educational aspirations. By using that survey alongside similar data from PISA 2003, we can historically compare the role of the intergenerational transfer of values about life success, mental ability, and socioeconomic status (SES) in the formation of educational aspirations in adolescents in 1989 and 2003.