Educational Expansion and Its Consequences for Vertical and Horizontal Inequalities in Access to Higher Education in West Germany

The association between graduates’ field of study and occupational attainment in West Germany, 1980–2008

“…Higher education in Germany seems to remain a good investment in terms of occupational attainment irrespective of the chosen field of study. Given that the association between graduates' social origin and field of study remained similarly constant over time (Reimer and Pollak 2010), social inequalities in occupational attainment tend to be far from increasingly transmitted via the field of study over the course of educational expansion in West Germany.…”

“…Accordingly, US students in STEM fields have been found to have higher math and verbal abilities than students from humanities, social sciences and business (Arcidiacono 2004). For Germany, Reimer and Pollak (2010) show that the better students' Abitur grades are the lower students' likelihood of studying humanities and social sciences in almost all school leaver cohorts across time. A decrease in students' average ability in less demanding fields may further involve a decline in teaching standards in curricula in those fields (Walker and Zhu 2005).…”

LLCS Vol 1, Issue 1, Full Issue

“…As mentioned above, educational pathways before higher education are class-specific (Table 2; see also Becker & Hecken, 2009;Jacob & Weiss, 2010;Reimer & Pollak, 2010): students from higher social classes have taken the standard path more often than students from lower classes. If pathways outside the academic track produce higher dropout rates, this should result in a social inequality of dropout (Hypothesis 5).…”

“…Although inequality in completing secondary education decreased during the period of educational expansion, social inequality in post-secondary decisions increased (Mayer, Müller, & Pollak, 2007). Given the same level of achievement, students with Abitur from a higher social background more often access university directly, whereas students from the middle and lower classes more often opt for the less risky strategy of vocational training first and studies afterwards, or they even decide against higher education studies despite their eligibility (Becker & Hecken, 2009;Hillmert & Jacob, 2003;Mayer et al, 2007;Müller & Pollak, 2004;Reimer & Pollak, 2010). Those who have decided to take up higher education studies differ in their educational biography depending on their social origins.…”

Educational Policies Changed Norwegian Attainment Patterns 1950-2010

“…More recent researches traced developments until the turn of the century. Breen et al [7] studied developments from cohorts born around 1930 to cohorts born around 1960. They confirmed the Shavitt/Blossfeld-conclusions on Sweden and Netherland, but found that class inequalities also shrank in England, West Germany, France and Italy.…”