Ulikhet i høyere utdanning: Betydningen av klassebakgrunn, kjønn og bosted

Abstract

The link between class origin and educational attainment have been extensively studied in numerous countries. Additionally, a growing body of research shows that place is essential for understanding educational inequalities. Rural youth have been identified as a group commonly underrepresented in higher education in several countries. However, evidence on how class origin and youths’ place of residence are intertwined in higher education participation is scarce. Based on population-wide administrative data of the Norwegian 1996-1998 birth cohorts, this chapter analyses the relationship between youths’ class origin and higher education participation along an urban-rural axis. The results confirm previous research showing that social class, gender, and place are all contributing factors affecting youths’ higher education participation. Further, the main results can be summarized as follows: (i) the relationship between class origin and higher education participation is somewhat stable along the urban-rural axis, (ii) gender inequality in higher education participation is more prominent in rural versus urban areas, disfavoring rural boys, and (iii) boys growing up in rural areas have a considerably lower probability of participating in higher education compared to their urban counterparts, even when comparing youth with the same class background. The findings suggest that place should be considered a significant factor that could affect youths’ educational careers – alongside and in combination with other well-known factors, such as class and gender.