Inequality weighs on higher education

A new study by the University of Crete has shown that a family’s socio-economic profile determines, to a large degree, the type and quality of university attended by its children. Broadly, the research seen by Kathimerini ​​​​​​suggests that the educational system reproduces existing social and economic inequalities by largely limiting the mobility of students.

For example, it demonstrates that students from rural areas are at a disadvantage compared to those in big cities when it comes to entering higher academic institutions, especially the most prestigious and in-demand university departments.

It also draws clear correlations between the success of students in the nationwide university entrance exams with the socio-economic profile of their family.

More specifically, the economic and cultural “capital” of a student’s parents – but also other factors like where they come from and how educated they are – plays an important role in both the choices and performance of the candidate.

The study was conducted on 2,372 students at 16 departments of the University of Crete. 

One of the glaring conclusions is draws is that students whose parents have limited educational levels, belong to low socio-professional categories and are not permanently employed, tend to study in lower-demand departments.

The reverse is true for students from families with high socio-professional and educational profiles, who are admitted to a greater extent to high-demand departments.

Indicatively, the parents of students in a high-demand school like that of medicine had a higher educational level compared to those of students in other departments of the university, whose grade threshold for admission is lower.

Among medical students, 42.9% have a father who is a university graduate and 21% have a father with a master’s or doctoral degree.

The single-department Medical School stands out in most categories, followed by other sought-after departments like Biology and Chemistry.

There are differences between departments in each city as well.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Department of Science and Technology has the lowest entrance scores, even though its curriculum was recently given very good ratings.