Soziale Ungleichheiten nach Studienabschluss?

Sebastian Neumeyer & Bettina Alesi (2018): Soziale Ungleichheiten nach Studienabschluss? Wie sich die Bildungsherkunft auf weitere Bildungsübergänge und den erfolgreichen Berufseinstieg von Hochschulabsolventen auswirkt. INCHER Working Paper Nr. 8, Kassel. DOI: 10.17906/INCHER.0001

Social inequalities after graduation? How the educational background affects transitions to postgraduate studies and the successful career entry of higher education graduates.

In Germany, social background is regarded as a strong predictor of educational success. Not only there are significant disparities in favour of students with a high socio-economic status on the path to higher education, but also there are signs of unequal transitions to postgraduate studies—from bachelor’s to master’s and from master’s to doctoral studies. The social differentiation of higher education can manifest itself in inequalities on the labour market. Previous studies have mainly examined objective characteristics (biographies, performance, human capital) as mechanisms for social inequalities in access to postgraduate education and labour market entry. So far, mechanisms of rational choice theory (expectations of costs, benefits and success) have not been modelled specifically for the decision to continue higher education, but only based on objective characteristics or based on corresponding considerations at the entrance to higher education.

The study Social Inequality and Diversity at Transitions to Postgraduate Studies and the Labour Market in North Rhine-Westphalia addresses this research gap and tries to clarify whether and why social origin influences the transition to Master’s studies, the transition to doctoral studies and the occupational success of higher education graduates. In addition to biographies and performance characteristics, social support through social networks as well as expected costs, benefits and likelihood of success are analysed as mechanisms for inequalities. Furthermore, it will be investigated how origin-specific considerations emerge from disparities in social support: Graduates with an academic background should anticipate more financial and academic support, which will reduce the estimated costs of a further study phase and increase its chances of success. It is also examined whether graduates are supported by various networks in a socially selective manner when they enter the labour market and thus achieve higher labour market returns.

The data are based on the graduate surveys of 15 universities of applied sciences and 13 universities in the German federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, which were conducted as part of the German Tracer Studies Co-Operation Project (KOAB). For the class of 2014, social support as well as mechanisms of rational choice theory were surveyed as a focal topic. A total of about 17,000 graduates of Bachelor, Master, Staatsexamen, Diplom and Magister degrees are examined. As the central determinant of inequality, the educational background is examined based on the parents’ highest level of education. Regression and decomposition methods are used to explain the inequalities.

The results show that the transition rates to a master’s degree programme are about ten percentage points higher for graduates from an academic educational background than graduates from a non-academic educational background. In comparison, the inequalities in the transition to doctoral studies are small. Financial support from the parents’ home increases – partly mediated through lower cost and higher success expectations – the probability of taking up a Master’s degree, and thus explains part of the difference between social backgrounds. In addition to cost considerations and support, unequal educational biographies, especially the type of higher education institution, contribute significantly to disparate transition rates to a Master’s degree programme. The inequalities in the transition to doctoral studies can be explained above all by differences in biographical characteristics, in the performance level and in the expectation of success. In comparison with previous cohorts of graduates, there are indications that the Bologna reform has led to a shift in social inequalities on the way to a doctorate.

Occupational success is examined using objective and subjective indicators. Graduates from academic parental homes are somewhat more successful when starting their careers: for example, their hourly wages are four percent higher than those of first-generation graduates. The inequalities in occupational success can be largely explained by the mechanisms studied. In particular, unequal access to master’s degrees and comparable degrees, as well as differences in performance in school and studies, contribute to inequalities in graduates’ entry into the world of work. In this way, educational inequalities in the higher education system translate into occupational inequalities.

Graduates with an academic family background are more likely to be supported by contacts of their families of origin than graduates without an academic family background. Graduates from an academic background compensate for below-average exam grades by family support in finding a job. This is not the case for first-generation graduates. Furthermore, the returns to support from the family of origin differ depending on educational background: support from a non-academically educated family of origin is associated with lower objective labour market returns (position, income) than support from an academically educated family of origin. The results of the decomposition analyses suggest that family support in career planning contributes to social inequalities in occupational success.
 

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