Transition Into Higher Education – Characteristics Of Traditional And Alternative Study Routes
Author(s):
Katalin Bander (presenting / submitting)
Conference:
ECER 2015
Network:
Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)
Format:
Paper

Session Information

ERG SES D 03, Higher Education

Paper Session

Time:
2015-09-07
13:30-15:00
Room:
305. [Main]
Chair:
Jonas Almqvist

Contribution

According to Boudon (1974) and Bourdieu (1977), the growing industrialization and the democratic expansion of education systems in the second half of the 20th century – contrary to researchers’ expectations – did not lead to a significant diminution of educational inequalities in most European countries. In Hungary, a process of change started in the field of education at the beginning of the 1990’s, as a part of which the average level of educational attainment started to increase rapidly, participation in various forms of secondary education became almost universal, and the rate of higher education enrolment has expanded considerably (Ladányi 1998, Szemerszki 2009). In spite of the growing number of university study places, participation in higher education has remained socially selective in Hungary. To some extent, this can be explained with the theory of maximally maintained inequality (Raftery – Hout 1993), according to which, the chances of higher education admission of the children coming from less privileged social groups will only begin to grow, once the enrolment rate of students from higher social strata has statistically reached or approached 100%. However, even in the case of mass (or nearly universal) higher education admission, educational inequalities can still be reproduced in higher levels, for example in the system of higher education, when students gain admission to more or less prestigious universities and study programmes, take different study routes and have different career opportunities as a consequence (effectively maintained inequalities (Lucas 2001). The above-mentioned inequalities are present in most European higher education systems and also in Hungary, which makes examining the characteristics of transition from secondary school to higher education, the growing diversity of student populations and the differentiation of study routes and strategies more and more essential.

Prior research on this topic divided the study routes of higher education students into three clear stages: 1) from graduating from secondary school until entering higher education, 2) from entering higher education until graduating for the first time from higher education, 3) from graduating for the first time until the (possible) re-entering into higher education (Orr - Gwosć - Netz 2011). In this presentation we concentrate on the characteristics of the first stage in Hungarian higher education. We aim to reveal the types of transition from secondary school into higher education and we try to identify the main factors contributing to the reproduction of social inequalities in this stage. Our further goal is to examine the characteristics of a special focus group of students, the so-called delayed transition students, who enter higher education more than two years after graduating from secondary school and often take alternative qualification paths to higher education (Orr - Gwosć - Netz 2011). We aim to investigate to what extent the features of this group differ from that of the students who take a direct route to higher education. The research is to reveal whether the characteristics of the transition period influence students’ further study routes and opportunities. Does the timing of the transition and the type of transition route chosen by the students make any differences regarding their future educational career, and if yes, in which aspects are these differences present?

Method

In the presentation we use quantitative methods to answer the above research questions. Basically we rely on the Hungarian database of the EUROSTUDENT V. survey, and we also use general data from the Education at a Glance 2014 publication (OECD 2014). The EUROSTUDENT survey gives an overall picture on students’ social and economic conditions in the 27 participating countries. The core questionnaire of the survey covers the following topics: transition into higher education, social make-up of the student populations, types and modes of study, time budget for studies and employment, students’ resources and expenses, housing situation, participation in international mobility and students’ assessment of their studies and their future plans. The Hungarian sample of the survey was taken from 25 higher education institutions representing 85% of the student population in Hungary. The survey was carried out online, and produced a sample of 5% of the whole student population (number of cases: 16745). The target population of the survey were ISCED 6 and ISCED 7 students (both full-time and part-time) enrolled in full degree courses in Hungarian universities (the survey did not collect data about students taking part in temporary credit-mobility, but included foreign degree-mobile students) (Garai – Kiss 2014). In the research we use the SPSS software for the purpose of quantitative analysis. To examine the special characteristics of the group of delayed transition students, to reveal the factors which may explain the timing and type of transition, and to find variables which influence their further higher education study routes, we use the methods of cross-table analysis and logistic regression.

Expected Outcomes

According to the first results of the analysis, the basic characteristics of the delayed transition students – who make up 16,2% of the sample – differ significantly from that of the students who take a direct route to higher education. Delayed transition students are generally older, they more often come from lower educated backgrounds, most of them (62%) have prior work experience, one in three already have children, and more than 40% relies on their own income to make a living. It seems that delayed transition students are likely to pursue a very different way of life with different expectations and responsibilities than direct transition students. Presumably, these differences in the life situations influence students’ higher education study paths. It can be assumed that delayed transition students differ from those with a direct transition not only in the way and timing of the transition, but also their further higher education study careers, opportunities and choices become different. For example, delayed transition students often attend part-time study programmes and they are likely to be low intensity students. They more often interrupt their higher education studies for more than a year than direct transition students, and their participation rate in international student mobility is significantly lower than those who take a direct route to university. However, we must note that the group of delayed transition students is by no means homogeneous. Presumably, at least two sub-groups exist, a larger one with the above mentioned characteristics and a smaller one with a very different life situation and motivations. We suppose the analysis of the factors which influence the choice of delayed transition will enable us to make clear differences between the two groups’ higher education careers, so we would see in which cases the delayed transition really goes along with higher education inequalities.

References

Garai, Orsolya – Kiss, László (2014): EUROSTUDENT V. Kutatási jelentés, Educatio Nonprofit Kft. http://www.felvi.hu/pub_bin/dload/eurostudent/eurostudent_kutatasi_jelentes2014.pdf (Date of last download: 18th December 2014.) Ladányi, Andor (1998): A felsőoktatás nemzetközi statisztikai összehasonlításban, Research Papers N. 214, Hungarian Institute for Educational Research, Budapest Lucas, S. R. (2001): Effectively Maintained Inequality: Education Transitions, Track Mobility and Social Background Effects, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 106. No. 6, pp. 1642-1690. OECD (2014), Education at a Glance 2014: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2014-en Orr, Dominic – Gwosć, Christoph, - Netz, Nicolai (2011): Social and Economic Conditions of Student Life in Europe, Synopsis of Indicators, Final Report, EUROSTUDENT IV 2008-2011, Bertelsmann Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Bielefeld Raftery, A.E. – Hout, M. (1993): Maximally Maintained Inequality: Expansion, Reform and Opportunity in Irish Education, 1921-1975, Sociology of Education, Vol. 66. (January) pp. 41-62. Szemerszki, Marianna (2009): Az Eurostudent felmérés magyarországi kapcsolódásai, NFKK Füzetek 2. AULA Kiadó Budapest. pp. 42-70.

Author Information

Katalin Bander (presenting / submitting)
Corvinus University of Budapest
Institute of Sociology and Social Policy
Érd

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