Denne artikel beskæftiger sig med social ulighed på lange videregående uddannelser i Danmark. Ved at betragte de interne forskelle i det danske universitetsfelt undersøges omfanget og karakteren af den sociale differentiering på de lange videregående uddannelser. For at forstå disse sociale differentieringsprocesser anlægges et henholdsvis makro- og mikrosociologisk perspektiv på betydningen af social klasse og kulturel praksis på uddannelserne, og der stilles det overordnede spørgsmål: Hvad er sammenhængen mellem unges valg af videregående uddannelse, deres sociale oprindelse og de kulturelle praktikker på de forskellige videregående uddannelser? Empirien udgøres af såvel registerdata som af feltarbejde på tre udvalgte universitetsuddannelser, og der bruges følgelig såvel kvantitative som kvalitative metoder. Analysen af universitetsfeltet viser at der er meget stor forskel på de forskellige uddannelsers sociale profil, at der er en tydelig klassestruktur i det danske universitetsfelt, at den kulturelle praksis der kendetegner udvalgte uddannelser kan forstås meningsfuldt i sammenhæng med denne klassestruktur, og endelig at det kræver bestemte forudsætninger at mestre kulturen på de forskellige uddannelser.
Søgeord: Social differentiering, social klasse, videregående uddannelser, universitetsstuderende, uddannelseskultur, uddannelsesvalg.
ENGELSK ABSTRACT:
Jens Peter Thomsen: Social Class and Culture in Danish Universities
In this article I address the question of social inequality in higher education. By looking at the horizontal stratification in the Danish university field I examine the extent and nature of the processes of social differentiation within the different university programs. In order to understand the processes of differentiation, a macro- and micro-sociological perspective on the significance of social class and cultural practice in the university programs is applied. The main question is: What is the relationship between young people’s choice of university program, social class origin and the cultural practices in the different university programs? National register data as well as fieldwork carried out in three different university programs make up the empirical basis of the research, and both quantitative and qualitative methods are applied. The analysis of the university field shows that: A) The university field is highly structured by social class, B) there are great differences in the class characteristics of the student body in the different programs, C) the class structure in the university field is closely related to the cultural practices characterizing specific programs, and finally, D) that students from certain social backgrounds are better prepared than other students for the practical mastery of these cultural practices.
Key words: Higher education, social class, horizontal stratification, university students, educational cultures, choice of higher education.
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