Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3935/rsp.v28i1.1726
Horizontal Differences in Higher Education in Croatia: The Effects of Different Types of Capital on the Choice of Faculties of Different Social Status
Saša Puzić
orcid.org/0000-0001-7231-7312
; Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Margareta Gregurović
orcid.org/0000-0002-7659-0794
; Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies, Zagreb, Croatia
Iva Odak
orcid.org/0000-0002-4249-4964
; Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to examine horizontal inequalities in higher education in the Croatian context. Starting from the theory of cultural and social reproduction (Bourdieu, 2011), it is hypothesized that, regardless of students’ high school achievement, differences in the likelihood of choosing faculties of different social status in certain fields of study are related to students' cultural and economic capital. The analyses are based on data collected during the academic year 2016/17 on a sample of 1,533 second and third-year students at 13 faculties of the University of Zagreb. In order to test the starting hypothesis, the first step was to establish a hierarchy of faculties sorted by the fields of study, according to the level of education of the students' parents. Using multinomial logistic regression analysis, the effects of the students' cultural and economic capital on the likelihood of choosing faculties of different social status were examined. The results show that the probability of choosing the analysed groups of faculties is related to economic capital and various forms of cultural capital of students, regardless of their high school achievement. The exception are two STEM faculties, whose choice is neither related to students’ economic, nor cultural capital, but primarily dependent on high school achievement. Although the effect of particular forms of economic and cultural capital is to certain extent partial and inconsistent and cannot be generalised for all the examined groups of faculties, the findings indicate that choices in higher education cannot be separated from the socioeconomic and sociocultural surroundings of students.
Keywords
horizontal inequalities; higher education; cultural capital; economic capital; choices in higher education
Hrčak ID:
256425
URI
Publication date:
13.4.2021.
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