Social Inequality In Higher Education Research Articles

Curricular and Extracurricular Learning among Students with Resilience Potential. Social Inequalities in Higher Education

Does resilience potential in higher education mature into success or does it remain merely a promise of success due to rising social inequality? We studied curricular and extracurricular learning of students with outstanding academic achievement who entered higher education despite their disadvantage of social background (= students with resilience potential). A student survey database compiled in the research project “Higher Education for Social Cohesion – Cooperative Research and Development in a Cross-border Area” (HERD) (HURO/0901/253/2.2.2.) in 2012 was analyzed. Students of three Eastern Hungarian higher education institutions were surveyed (N = 1205). Students with resilience potential were identified in the intersection of two groups of variables: social background and input academic achievement. We have conducted a cluster analysis, which has resulted in the identification of students with resilience potential and other researched groups: drifters (low social background and low input academic achievement), beneficiaries (high social background and high academic achievement) and indifferent prodigals (high social background and low academic achievement). To sum up our results, the students with resilience potential only use higher education to fulfill curricular requirements, and hit a ceiling, compared to the beneficiaries, when it comes to the student year mining, meaningful extracurricular activities. Thus social inequalities crawl through these invisible channels into higher education and beyond.

ИЗМЕНЯЮЩАЯСЯ ЦЕННОСТЬ ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ: СРАВНИТЕЛЬНЫЙ АНАЛИЗ БЕЛАРУСИ, РОССИИ, КИТАЯ

Objective of the study is to identify changes in perceptions of the value of higher education in the mass consciousness of young Belarusians, Russians and Chinese, as well as to clarify the real possibilities of obtaining it in each of these countries, taking into account the social stratification of the population and other factors. The article shows how the attitude of young people to higher education in selected countries has changed in the last decade, and what factors in these countries caused these changes. The trends of differentiated attitudes towards higher education among young people representing different social strata of the population are revealed. The methodological basis of the research. The article proceeds from the principle of social justice in its application to the problem of assessing the opportunities of different groups of young people to get equal access to higher education. Social justice is one of the terminal values for the population of post-Soviet Belarus and Russia, since the Soviet Union cultivated the idea of social equality and ensuring equal access to higher education regardless of the income level of different social groups. The value of equal access to higher education remains in the mass consciousness today. However, as the market economy develops in these countries, the cost of paid higher education increases, which in the current difficult socio-economic conditions makes it unattainable for young people from low-income segments of the population and forces these young people to look for other strategies for successfully entering the labor market. In China, high competition for admission to the second-stage programs of higher education makes it unattainable for a large number of young people who have insufficiently high academic performance, even if there are material opportunities for admission to paid education. This factor has caused the mobility of Chinese youth to Russia and Belarus to obtain a master's degree, which is necessary in the future for employment. The empirical basis of the study is statistical data on changes in the number of students in the higher education system in Russia and Belarus, secondary vocational education in Russia, as well as available statistics on higher education in China. For an in-depth study of the opinions of Chinese youth who came to Belarus, data from sociological studies of Chinese students who studied at master's programs were used, which clarified the reasons that prompted them to come to study in Belarus, personal motives in studying, expectations from the education they receive in terms of future employment and improving social status. Similar questions were found out in the national survey of Belarusian students conducted in 2022 (n = 2666). Research results. In the article, from the standpoint of the continuing value orientation of post-Soviet Russian and Belarusian society on the equality of youth access to higher education as a terminal value, it is shown that, firstly, the problem of social inequalities in higher education is relevant for both countries, but manifests itself in different ways. In Russia, young people with insufficient financial resources have begun to reorient from higher to secondary vocational education; in Belarus, young people are limited to bachelor's degree, not considering further continuation of education practically valuable for entering the labor market. In turn, Chinese youth, who do not have the opportunity to realize the need for a second-level education at home, go abroad, since only a high level of education guarantees them employment and social status in their country. Secondly, the relationship between the issues of access to higher education, the income of the population and the subsequent access of young people to the labor market has been revealed. With a lack of income, low-resource groups prefer to focus on secondary vocational education or bachelor's degree, which guarantee young people a faster entry into the labor market and financial independence. Resourceful Chinese young people are ready to invest in obtaining a master's degree abroad, because without it they may not find a job in China at all. Thirdly, modern practice shows that, despite the stereotypical high ratings of higher education by young people, in a specific life situation, in all three countries, they are oriented towards obtaining education instrumentally. Prospects of the study are related to further analysis of the dynamics of attitudes of young people to receive education at different levels in the context of changes in household incomes and strategies for entering the labor market. According to the author, management structures need to monitor the dynamics of changes in the attitude of young people to higher education, since highly educated personnel are the driver of the development of any society. The social discontent of the youth cohort is a danger to the political stability of society.

Did the Poor Get Poorer? The Impact of COVID-19 on Social Inequalities Between International and Domestic Students

This paper examines the influence of COVID-19 on social inequality in higher education. In particular, we focus on the study duration of international students compared to domestic ones in Germany. We assume that the pandemic has increased or decreased existing differences between both groups, affecting their study delay. The multilevel analyses with data “Studying in Germany in Corona Times” (2020) confirm most of our theoretical assumptions: on the one hand, international students expect a longer study duration due to their worsening financial situation. On the other hand, domestic students expect a longer study duration due to greater learning issues, which are provoked by a lower level of interaction in online teaching. Our results propose a more differentiated picture of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social inequality: not only do financially poor international students get poorer but educationally advantaged domestic students lose, too.

The neglect of researchers during the first COVID-19 pandemic induced national lockdown in India: inside the lives of JNU's research scholars.

This p aper discusses the main findings of a study on the impact of the first COVID-19 induced nationwide lockdown and university closure in India on the research scholars (PhD and MPhil) of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). An online survey was employed using the quantitative descriptive methodology. With responses from 530 research scholars, this is one of the first quantitative studies to assess the pandemic’s effect on the research work, finances, and mental health of researchers in India from March to June 2020. Given the existing social inequality in higher education, the survey reflects the researchers’ dismal state of reality as reported during the first 4 months of the pandemic. Research work witnessed a standstill with large-scale disruption in travel and every other scholar encountering unreliable electricity or internet connectivity. Untimely disbursal of fellowships intensified their already existing financial hardship. Nearly 90% of scholars reported stalled fieldwork, a lack of clarity regarding extension of their research programme, and financial woes as some of the top reasons for their anxiety. Using the chi-square method, the study predicts that dropouts from research programmes are likely in the context of the pandemic, which correlates significantly with socio-economic backgrounds (caste, class and gender) of research scholars. Further, the results show that the challenges faced by terminal, mid-stage, and course-work scholars are unique, emphasizing on the need for targeted interventions beyond extended research deadlines. Non-addressal of these immediate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will have long-term repercussions on the lives of India’s researchers and academic workers. It will only deepen existing inequalities in higher education, leading to gentrification of research degrees in India.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10734-022-00927-4.

(Mis)Matched College Aspirations and Expectations: The Role of Social Background and Admission Barriers

AbstractNot all high school students who wish to study think that they will be able to realize this wish. This article examines whether admission barriers to higher education (HE) are a potential reason for this mismatch between educational aspirations and expectations and whether they are more constraining for students from socially less advantaged backgrounds. It does so for the German context in which the role of admission barriers for social inequality in HE has long been neglected. Empirically, the paper uses a unique combination of individual data on high school students’ educational aspirations and expectations and institutional data on admission barriers that vary by field of study. Findings indicate that the socially most privileged students stick to their college aspiration regardless of admission barriers to their aspired field of study. However, they seem to be willing to compromise their preferred field of study if this comes along with high admission barriers. Contrastingly, socially less privileged students seem willing to compromise both their general college aspiration and their aspired field of study if admission appears difficult. The concluding section discusses the implications of these findings for social inequality in education.

Three stories of institutional differentiation: resource, mission and social inequalities in higher education

ABSTRACT This paper explores the historical relationship between the expansion of the UK HE system through sectorial diversification, processes of differentiation/convergence and (in)equalities since the 1960s. It examines the extent to which the connections and tensions between three stories of resource, mission and social differentiations might be influenced (alongside other forces) by the emergence and crisis of successive socio-economic regimes. The empirical analysis of the three types of differentiation compares and contrasts new historical data on funding, enrolment and qualifications for the whole system and its institutional segments. The analysis shows that the ongoing tensions between resource, mission and social differentiations were exacerbated by the effect of the crises of 1973 and 2008 which provoked their misalignment and the destabilisation of the phases of expansion started in the 1960s and the 1990s. This pleads for a new social compromise to overcome the 2008 crisis to which a new HE expansion based on a realignment of, rather than a trade-off between the three dimensions of differentiation might contribute. This realignment requires a reversal of the public/private substitution of funding ensuring that a less unequal resource differentiation reflects and drives fairer processes of mission differentiation or convergence rather than stratifying social inequalities.

Inequalities reinforced through online and distance education in the age of COVID-19: The case of higher education in Nepal.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has triggered serious disruption in economic, social and cultural dynamics around the globe. Higher education has also suffered undeniable challenges as a result of the pandemic, with thousands of university students all over the world experiencing displacement, disconnect and disengagement from formal learning. In the Global South, online and distance education programmes tend to be concentrated in urban centres. In Nepal, students from rural areas, low socio-economic and gendered spaces, and those with low proficiencies in English and technological skills are experiencing inequalities in access to and participation in online and distance education. This article outlines how universities' shift to online teaching and learning modes due to the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced social inequalities in Nepal. For the study presented here, the author collected data through netnographic research methods. These included online interviews with university executives, online focus group discussions (FGDs) with university teachers and students, observation of and participation in online classes and policy conferences and reviews of online documents. The article analyses three overriding mechanisms which are reinforcing social inequalities in higher education: (1) universities’ policy trajectories in shifting teaching/learning from face-to-face to online mode; (2) infrastructural limitations challenging effective implementation of online teaching/learning; and (3) a lack of strong pedagogic support for students from disadvantaged and marginalised spaces, including those with low proficiencies in English and technological skills. The author presents a number of tangible strategies for universities to implement in order to mitigate social inequalities. He recommends the adoption of policies and practices that optimise the inclusive use of online and distance education programmes for best effect, both now and in the post-pandemic era.

La sociologie de l’étudiant en France : entre reproduction et production

Il y avait 300 000 étudiants en France en 1968, 1,5 million en 2000, il y en a eu 2,6 millions en 2019. Il ne s’agit pas uniquement d’une croissance démographique quantitative car la population étudiante a connu une diversification importante sur le plan social et scolaire. Cette massification a largement contribué à la naissance et au développement d’une sociologie de l’étudiant en France qui ne cesse de se diversifier en ce qui concerne ses objets, ses terrains et ses paradigmes. Si le travail fondateur de Bourdieu et de Passeron sur la reproduction des inégalités sociales dans l’enseignement supérieur a longuement dominé la recherche académique en France, de nouveaux axes de recherche ont élargi les périmètres d’une sociologie qui a connu une évolution importante. Depuis cinq décennies, la sociologie de l’étudiant est devenue plurielle en s’intéressant notamment au rapport au savoir et la perspective d’apprentissage, à l’intégration académique et sociale, au métier d’étudiant, à la culture et à la temporalité étudiante, aux effets de l’environnement d’études sur le parcours étudiant. Un nœud critique dans les travaux sociologiques concerne la place accordée à l’étudiant, à son expérience et à sa subjectivité au regard de son origine sociale et scolaire. L’analyse des enjeux théoriques et méthodologiques soulevés par l’évolution de la sociologie de l’étudiant en France permet d’examiner les divergences et les convergences qui perdurent au sein des débats critiques entre les chercheurs.

Different degrees of career success: social origin and graduates' education and labour market trajectories.

Most research on social inequalities in higher education (HE) graduates' labour market outcomes has analysed outcomes at one or two points in time, thus providing only snapshots of graduates' occupational destinations. This study contributes to the existing literature by examining the education and labour market trajectories of degree holders across their life course and how these trajectories vary by social class of origin. We analyse data from the 1970 British Cohort Study and employ sequence analysis, followed by cluster analysis, to identify HE graduates' typical trajectories. We assess the degree of social inequalities in the chance of following more or less advantaged pathways from age 16 up to the age of 42 and the extent to which these inequalities are explained by differences in higher education experiences. The results show that graduates from lower social classes of origin have more diverse and less stable trajectories, are less likely to enter top-level jobs in their 20s and more likely to enter and remain in lower social classes than their more socially advantaged counterparts. The age at which people graduate from HE emerges to be a key factor in explaining some of these patterns. Interestingly, HE factors - such as class of degree, fields of study and type of university attended - only partially explain social class differences. Our research provides new insights into the dynamic nature of inequalities among graduates showing that not only does the final destination matter but also the timing and sequencing of spells within the trajectories are important.

PSICOLOGIA E A DESIGUALDADE SOCIAL NA EDUCAÇÃO SUPERIOR: AS ARTIMANHAS DE (RE)PRODUÇÕES SÓCIO-HISTÓRICAS

A abordagem da permanência do estudante em situação de desigualdade social na educação superior associa-se às ações vinculadas aos programas para a redução dos índices de retenção e evasão. Essas ações se fundamentam no Programa Nacional de Assistência Estudantil e partem dos setores de assistência estudantil das Instituições Federais de Ensino Superior, que possuem em sua composição profissionais da área de Psicologia. Realizou-se uma pesquisa qualitativa, a partir dos pressupostos da Psicologia Sócio-histórica, de caráter documental, sobre as ações desenvolvidas pela Psicologia nos contextos da assistência estudantil no Nordeste brasileiro. Para tanto, analisou-se 23 documentos provenientes dos sites institucionais da assistência estudantil de nove instituições. Os resultados indicaram que a Psicologia na Assistência estudantil é direcionada para uma atenção à saúde do estudante; prevalece uma concepção clínica da Psicologia Escolar e Educacional; ações inovadoras são coletivas e perspectivam o desempenho acadêmico e desenvolvimento psicossocial nos diversos âmbitos da vivência universitária.
 Palavras-chave: Psicologia escolar; desigualdade; assistência estudantil; atuação profissional

Hidden social exclusion in Indian academia: gender, caste and conference participation

ABSTRACTConferences are key sites for the development of academic careers; however multiple studies have shown that conferences are exclusionary on the basis of gender and other axes of social disadvantage. This study focuses on India and as such also incorporates caste as an axis of privilege and disadvantage in relation to access to conferences. Conferences in this paper are framed within a broader professional development agenda, which is the way in which conferences are located in Indian higher education policy discourses, and a social exclusion perspective is taken as the analytical lens. The paper is based on data from a large-scale national study of social inequalities in higher education, which included quantitative analysis of administrative records and qualitative analysis of interviews with academics on their participation in conferences and professional development activities. Key findings include that participation in conferences is proportionally lower for women and scheduled caste academics than for men and upper-caste academics, and that access to conferences is embroiled in relational processes of social exclusion which operate in the academy, despite formal policies being in place. The article recommends further scrutiny of policy implementation and replication of this analysis across different country contexts.

School Market in Quebec and the Reproduction of Social Inequalities in Higher Education

The purpose of this article is to show that the stratification of the Quebec high school market contributes to the reproduction of social inequalities in higher education. The results obtained from a sample (N = 2,677) of a cohort of students born in 1984 and observed up to the age of 22 show that the influence of social origin operates in large part via mediation of the type of institution attended. Students enrolled in private or public institutions offering enriched programs (in mathematics, science or languages) are significantly more likely to access college and university education than their peers who attended a public institution offering only regular programs. Additional analyses reveal that the probability of attending a private or public institution offering enriched programs is strongly correlated with the social origin of the student. The influence of the education market itself operates through differences in performance and educational aspirations that characterize students in three types of establishments.

The Widening Participation Agenda in German Higher Education: Discourses and Legitimizing Strategies

Although participation in higher education (HE) has expanded in Europe, social inequalities remain a major political challenge. As HE expansion has not led to equal access and success, the mechanisms behind policies seeking to reduce inequalities need to be examined. Focusing on the widening participation agenda, this article investigates how universities translate political demands to their local contexts. The translation perspective is adopted to study the German HE system as an example characterized by high social exclusion. Based on policy document analysis, the study first explores the rationales underlying the discourse on widening participation. Second, a multiple case study design is used to investigate the organizational responses to the demand of widening participation. The findings indicate that the political discourse is dominated by two perspectives that regard widening participation as either a means to bring about social justice or to ensure a reliable pool of skilled labor. The study further reveals that different legitimizing strategies serve to link the policy of widening participation to local contexts. This study contributes to research on social inequalities in HE by introducing a translation perspective that permits analysis at both macro and organizational levels, while acknowledging institutional variations in organizational responses to political demands.

Higher education policies and question of social (in)equality: cases of Argentina and Finland.

This article studies the development of higher education (HE) policies in Argentina and Finland and examines what are the principles behind HE laws and policies, and whether the policies promote or prevent social equality. We apply genealogical document analysis and interpretive policy analysis to look for differences and similarities, and to place them in societal and historical context in order to make plausible interpretations. We contrast properties of social systems and patterns of policy practices that describe the character of HE institutions in Argentina and Finland. By creating country cases, we, analyze the HE policies of the democratic era in Argentina and Finland to find out whether and how the policies aim at reducing social inequalities in HE. We conclude that along with market logic in education policies, inequalities in HE tend to increase even in a Nordic welfare state like Finland.

Gender and social class in study choice: narratives of youth transitions in Spain

ABSTRACTSocial inequality regarding gender and social class is a topic of long-term interest in social research. However, the intersections between the two variables in the reproduction of inequalities in the field of education require further investigation. The longitudinal research project ‘Social Inequality in Higher Education’ aims to shed light on these processes in Spain. In this article, we focus on the intersection of social class and gender in the transition from school-to-university, specifically on study choice. We show several gender differences, e.g. a male tendency to avoid displaying insecurity that may hamper their access to support, in particular in the intersection with lower social class. Thanks to our mixed-methods approach, combining focus groups and personal interviews from a longitudinal perspective, we are able to compare these methods regarding the gender and class differences they produce.

HAS THE EXPANSION OF PARTICIPATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION LED TO A DECREASE IN SOCIO-ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES WITHIN IT? THE ROLE OF CULTURAL AND SOCIAL CAPITAL

In recent decades, the move from an elite to a mass higher education system in many countries and the resulting expansion of the higher education sector has not brought about a significant decrease in social inequalities. An important factor that has contributed to the persistence of social inequalities is attributed to the fact that increased access has been accompanied by a differentiated and stratified higher education sector. In this framework, researchers from many countries argue that students from upper and middle class backgrounds, with higher levels of cultural and social capital, are much more likely to attend high status higher education institutions and departments. By contrast, working class students usually choose to attend institutions and departments with a lower status. Class differentials in relation study completion and retention rates also exist, since working class students have lower retention rates than students from upper and middle class backgrounds. Bearing the above issues into consideration, in this paper, we conduct a short bibliographical review of studies examining the reasons for the persisting social inequalities in higher education and the relationship between social class and allocation in the different departments in higher education. We also present critically the most influential explanatory frameworks employed in the analysis and interpretation of the issue. Research findings provide strong evidence social class, and the students’ cultural and social capital play a major role in the persistence of social inequalities. Implications for policy makers are clear. On the basis of the above, we argue that socio-economic inequalities within higher education cannot be dealt with unless we tackle the issue of differentiated allocation in the different higher education departments. Article visualizations:

Thinking with and beyond Bourdieu in widening higher education participation

ABSTRACTThis article argues that to better investigate the enduring relationship between social class background and inequalities in post-compulsory education necessitates a more comprehensive approach to thinking with Bourdieu, but also a need to move beyond his seminal, much used concepts. Through meta-analysis, we review how Bourdieusian theory has been used in widening participation research in mainly Anglophone contexts, and consider how including concepts from his wider ‘toolbox’ can aid this pursuit. We consider new theories and concepts that have emerged largely after Bourdieu and their appropriateness for research in Australian higher education. We explore how a ‘practice-based’ theory of widening participation might be developed, drawing on the work of Schatzki and Kemmis which permits researchers to usefully consider the internal goods of a practice and the role of institutions and the non-human. We also suggest that incorporating intersectionality, as both a social theory of knowledge and an approach to analysis, facilitates exploration of routine practices and struggles and reveals the complexities, provisionality and becomingness of social positioning, subjectivities and change. Such theoretical extensions to Bourdieu’s legacy enable more nuanced understandings of how complex and intersecting social inequalities in higher education are realised or challenged in countries beyond the global north.

Open Educational Resources and Rhetorical Paradox in the Neoliberal Univers(ity)

As a phenomenon and a quandary, openness has provoked conversations about inequities within higher education systems, particularly in regards to information access, social inclusion, and pedagogical practice. But whether or not open education can address these inequities, and to what effect, depends on what we mean by "open" and specifically, whether openness reflexively acknowledges the fraught political, economic, and ethical dimensions of higher education and of knowledge production processes. This essay explores the ideological and rhetorical underpinnings of the open educational resource (OER) movement in the context of the neoliberal university. This essay also addresses the conflation of value and values in higher education - particularly how OER production processes and scholarship labor are valued. Lastly, this essay explores whether OER initiatives provide an opportunity to reimagine pedagogical practices, to reconsider authority paradigms, and potentially, to dismantle and redress exclusionary educational practices in and outside of the classroom. Through a critique of neoliberalism as critically limiting, an exploration of autonomy, and a refutation of the precept that OER can magically solve social inequalities in higher education, the author ultimately advocates for a reconsideration of OER in context and argues that educators should prioritize conversations about what openness means within their local educational communities.

Expansion of higher education and consequences for social inequality (the case of Russia)

The expansion of higher education leads to a number of consequences. The case of Russia has both specific features and features common to processes taking place in other countries. This paper offers a retrospective description of educational system manipulation and changes that have occurred due to general transformations in Russia. The new labor market required qualified specialists. At the same time, employers needed a significant number of more or less socialized young people, and these skills are considered to be acquired as a result of studying in a higher education institution (HEI). Both demands from the labor market were transmitted to families, who, in turn, translated demands to the educational system. The educational scope responded adequately to demand from families. HEIs underwent differentiation: some provided knowledge, along with socialization, confirmed by degrees; others just gave degrees plus socialization. Enrollment in HEIs grew continuously and very rapidly. Two types of consequence of the resulting situation are considered here. Using the findings of 50 years’ research, it is shown that increased HEI enrollment has led to greater uniformity in aspirations for education among young people and to their broader participation in higher education. However, this has not proved conducive to lessening social inequality in higher education. In addition, studies of HEI graduates in the labor market testify that the growth of HEI differentiation has raised inequality in the labor market.

Quanto conviene studiare?

This paper starts with a critical review of the literature on the role of beliefs in affecting social inequality in Higher Education (HE) and provides an empirical assessment of students’ beliefs about costs, economic returns and risks of failure in Italian HE. This paper provides, for the first time in Italy, empirical evidence regarding the determinants of students’ beliefs related to HE. Moreover, it attempts to assess the discrepancy between “subjective beliefs” and “objective values”. Our results point to the existence of systematic differences between different social strata. Students from more privileged social backgrounds tend to over-estimate economic returns to HE, whereas all students tend to over-estimate the costs of HE. Taken together, these results might contribute to explain the existence of the social-background gradient in HE participation in Italy. However, the paper concludes considering that “observational studies” should be complemented by studies based on randomized trials, for the latter allow to overcome long-standing problems in observational settings – like omitted-variable bias and reverse causality – that may undermine results about the role of students’ beliefs.