scholarly journals Why public education is unequal: case of Ukrainian rural schools

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-26
Author(s):  
Viktoriia Muliavka

Ukrainian educational system is not able to provide equal access to the university, regardless of children’s socio-economic background. Despite of the anti-discrimination ideas in legislation and in public discourse (with implementation of transparent mechanism of selection in 2004 - External Independent Testing), there are statistically significant differences in the results of EIT (that defines chances to get higher education) between children from rural area and their peers from urban schools (especially from elite ones). The research is based on Bourdieu’s theoretical concept of capitals and seven in-depth interviews with teachers from rural schools in different regions of Ukraine. Based on the findings, the author divides mechanisms of reproduction of educational inequality into four dimensions: economic capital of the school, economic capital of the family, cultural capital of the school and cultural capital of the family. Current educational reforms of secondary and higher education in Ukraine will not improve situation with access to higher education for children from poor social background. Closing of unprofitable universities and schools in rural area, expending the years of studying at school and implementation on funding reallocation based on a competition with financial support only of those, who are more successful, will deepen educational inequality, making accesses to the mechanism of improving socio-economic position even more dependent from socio-economic background.

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
René Pedroza Flores ◽  
Guadalupe Villalobos Monroy ◽  
Ana María Reyes Fabela

<p>This paper presents an estimate of the prevalence of social inequality in accessing higher education among vulnerable groups in Mexico. Estimates were determined from statistical data provided by governmental agencies on the level of poverty among the Mexican population. In Mexico, the conditions of poverty and vulnerability while trying to access better standards of living as well as educational inequality continue to grow at an alarming rate. The number of poor (extreme and moderate) and vulnerable people (according to income and social need) increased from 2008 through 2010 dramatically. The number of people in this situation went from 89.9 million to 90.8 million, which represents 80.64% of the total Mexican population. Only 19.36% of the population is not considered poor or vulnerable.</p><p>The access to higher education is not distributed uniformly throughout the Mexican youth since they belong to different social and economic strata: the least developed regions carry the largest share. Consequently, educational opportunities are unequally distributed mainly across age and gender factors. A distribution imbalance is also found with regard to gender throughout the population observed and analyzed: indigenous females have a significantly higher risk of not having access to higher education than males.</p>


Author(s):  
Shutao Wang ◽  
Cui Huang

This study aimed to determine whether learning engagement plays a mediating effect on the relationship between family capital and students’ higher education gains in mainland China. We used family capital, learning engagement, and higher education gains as measures and analyzed data using a structural equation model. Data were collected from 1334 students at a Chinese university. The results show that family cultural capital had the most significant effect on students’ learning engagement, while economic capital also played a positive role, and social capital had no significant impact. Learning engagement played a mediating role in the relationship between cultural capital and higher education gains, as did the relationship between economic capital and higher education gains. However, learning engagement did not have a mediating effect on the relationship between social capital and higher education gains. Our results show that we should focus on the importance of students’ learning engagement, improve the cultural capital of disadvantaged groups, and provide financial support for students from low-income families.


Author(s):  
Куканова ◽  
Viktoriya Kukanova ◽  
Крупеникова ◽  
L. Krupenikova

In this article considers the factors of accessibility of higher education in Russia. By studying the problem of accessibility to higher education in the Russian society, it was identified two main criteria that are important for admission to higher education: social and cultural capital of the individual and the social and economic potential of his family. Also, accessibility of higher education is not only opportunity to go to university, but also to be able to go through the entire studying period. The main difficulties hindering the completion of education, is the difficulty in the studying of teaching material and in adaptation to loads, it is reasons related to the cultural capital of the family.


Author(s):  
Jussi Välimaa ◽  
Reetta Muhonen

This chapter provides a detailed and extensive assessment of Finland’s high participation system (HPS) of higher education, in a historical perspective and with focus on Finland’s core values of equality and equity. The country case challenges some of the HPS propositions. The Nordic model is built upon a distinctive cultural tradition in which the state administers a social consensus based on solidarity, equality, and trust, and higher education is of high quality and has equal esteem. Since World War II equality of opportunity has been central in national policymaking. The chapter focuses especially on the nature of access to higher education and continuing binary diversity between the university sector and the Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS, the former polytechnics) .While there is continuing social competition for access to elite professional programmes, and cultural capital provides certain families with advantages, the Finnish HPS is less competitive and stratified than other HPS.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kgothatso Brucely Shai ◽  
Rachidi Richard Molapo

During the struggle against colonialism and apartheid in South Africa and Africa, the liberation pioneers promised all citizens access to decent education. The premise was that the education the colonial authorities made available to Africans was poor compared to that of white people. What was more, only some middle-class Africans were given access to higher education. The initiation of the protest movement #FeesMustFall in 2015 seemed to mark a crossroads in South Africa in terms of opening the doors of learning to all. However, some scholars and politicians argue that the country’s higher education sector is still untransformed and inaccessible to most people. Still others argue that the #FeesMustFall movement’s call for aggressive transformation of higher education has been hijacked by a “third force” to undermine the Government. In this article we critique the competing perspectives of the ongoing public discourse on the #FeesMustFall movement based on interdisciplinary critical discourse and Afrocentric theory in order to gain a nuanced but critical understanding of this movement and its implications for the future. Notwithstanding the reservations about some of the bad elements of the modus operandi of the fallist movement, our major finding, as reported on in this article, was that the demand for quality and free higher education in South Africa was reasonable. Nevertheless, a decision to meet this demand might not be economically sound in respect of the immediate future.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Gale ◽  
Stephen Parker

In the global phenomenon of widening participation policy in higher education, lower retention rates for students from less advantaged socio-economic circumstances have potential to undermine the social inclusion agenda of HE. This might be an issue in Europe but is not necessarily the case elsewhere. In this paper we consider statistical data on Australian university students from under-represented groups, retained at similar rates to those of their more advantaged peers. Our data also include print and online media commentary on student retention. In our analysis we draw on Bourdieu’s social theory, particularly his conceptual tools of ‘cultural capital’ and field ‘distinction’. We argue that less-advantaged Australian university students appear to have greater access to the cultural capital privileged in higher education institutions. This tends to undermine claims of retention problems, and of ‘setting up students to fail’, which dominate quasi-policy media forums and have more to do with mitigating a perceived threat to the distinctive character of higher education. Following Wilkinson and Pickett’s observations on the distribution of economic capital within societies, we suggest that the more even the distribution of cultural capital across systems, institutions and groups, the less students’ socio-economic status has to do with their retention in higher education.


Author(s):  
Meruert K. Shnarbekova

Introduction. The article explores strategies of young people in the choice of higher education in Kazakhstan. There are discussions about the interrelations of family resources and socio-economic determined strategies of higher education choice, where the latter is viewed as the process involving a decision to continue / not to continue the study, university and specialty choice. The changes in the process of transformation of the economic capital of parents into the cultural capital of children and then into the economic capital of young people are analyzed for the first time in the context of post-Soviet Kazakhstan. The purpose of the article is to study the main mechanisms shaping the educational strategies of youth with different social and economic status. Materials and Methods. Four sociological studies were conducted in 2014-2017, based both on qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. This article presents results of research that was conducted among high school students of urban and rural, private (fee-paying) and public, general and specialized schools and their parents that represent different socio-economic groups. The sample size is 500 respondents. Results. On the basis of developed methodology of integrated assessment of family resource potential, the direct and indirect impact of family resources on youth strategies in higher education choice has been revealed. Direct impact is seen in the range of available higher education institutions. In case of insufficient family resource potential, young people face economic difficulties related to the payment of education. In this case, the yang people are on participating in the distribution of educational grants, on receiving social benefits while entering the university. While indirect influence has a hidden character, it manifests in the differentiation of the level of a starting educational capital. The high resource potential of the family allows parents to send a child to private school, to pay extra (paid) courses, thus forming the foundation for the accumulation of high educational capital in advance. In this aspect, young people with low family resource potential become less competitive in the sphere of higher education. This category of youth faces structural barriers, which manifested in a low level of start-up education al capital. Discussion and Conclusion. The research tools of youth strategies in higher education choice could be applied in the work of scientific and research organizations and state bodies, scientists and experts. The obtained scientific data and results provide relevant and reliable information to reduce or eliminate barriers specific to young people of “unprivileged” groups. Keywords: choice of higher education, influence of family capital, choice of university, social background, educational plan, social capital, family cultural capital Acknowledgments. The study was carried out within the framework of the project of the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MES RK) “Sociological indicators for measuring the competitiveness of Kazakhstan university graduates in the professional labor market: comparative country study” 5480/GF4 (2014-2017). The author is grateful to the editorial staff and reviewers for useful comments and recommendations.


Author(s):  
Zoya Proshkova

In this article were discussed the influence of family and cultural resources on the applicant admission to a higher educational institution. The relevance of the topic is based on the need to study and improve human capital quality. The main research questions are the family and cultural resources structure, and a person’s family resource relationship with other assets, as well as the conditions for students’ academic achievement. The project is based on a modern resource approach and a theoretical human resources model, proposed by the Russian sociologist Natalia Aleksandrovna Yakovleva to study starting inequality in the student environment. At the empirical part of the study, a survey of St. Petersburg State Institute of Cinema and Television first-year students was performed. Additional project modules were secondary analysis of available sociological results and use of statistical data. The author presents an applicant’s family resources analysis based on such empirical referents as education and professional parents activities, family income, parental attitudes towards higher education for children, family value orientations. Students’ cultural resource was studied according to the activity of visited cultural events, participation in workshops, as well as a set of the most important life attitudes. It was found that the family economic resource, the parents’ education level, family motivation for providing children with higher education, and the creative profession of the father had the greatest impact on admission to the university. Applicants’ cultural capital increased the success of passing the creative test and interview. The main factors in the students’ academic performance are their educational capital, participation in cultural events, and the family cultural capital. The study prospect is to expand the empirical project base for a comparative analysis of the applicants’ and their families’ universities choice with different ratings.


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