Abstract
In this paper we investigate social selectivity in access to higher education in Germany and, unlike most previous studies, explicitly devote attention to semi-tertiary institutions such as the so-called universities of cooperative education. Drawing on rational choice models of educational decisions we seek to understand which factors influence upper secondary graduates from different social backgrounds in their choices of diverse tertiary institutions in Germany. We find that scholastic performance, expected job security, study duration, monetary costs and preferences for study content considerably contribute to the creation of socially selective choice patterns of post-secondary careers. The characteristics of semi-tertiary institutions—such as universities of cooperative education that combine firm-based training with tertiary education—constitute a potential alternative that could reduce inequities in access to higher learning.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
In the case of universities of cooperative education this is usually a private firm, in the case of universities of administration this is the state/public administration.
First, a population weight that was delivered by the data providers accounts for sampling distortions in marginal distributions; second, a panel weight adjusts for selective dropouts between the first wave and our analytical sample; and third, a dataset weight for all analyses that are based on the pooled dataset is applied in order to assign equal weight to observations coming from different datasets. For the analyses we combined the three weights into a single composite weighting factor.
In case this information was missing, it has been replaced by mother’s class.
The working class has not been divided according to parental education since only less than 5 per cent in this category possess a higher education degree.
For about one per cent of the cases, information on grades was missing. In this case, values have been imputed by a regression-based imputation procedure.
The exact wording was: “Please indicate how relevant the following reasons and motives were for the choice of your post-secondary career path”.
About 6–7% of the respondents have missing data on at least one motive item. These missing data have been imputed by a regression-based imputation procedure.
This figure is smaller than the 20% that are usually reported by official statistics since we exclude students that receive their Abitur after vocational training, which is a very common pathway into universities of applied sciences.
At this point, we want to abstain from a more technical description of the method. Interested readers are referred to Fairlie (2005).
References
Becker, R., & Hecken, A. E. (2009). Higher education or vocational training?: An empirical test of the rational action model of educational choices suggested by Breen and Goldthorpe and Esser. Acta Sociologica, 52(1), 25–45.
Boudon, R. (1974). Education, opportunity and social inequality. New York: Wiley.
Breen, R., & Goldthorpe, J. H. (1997). Explaining educational differentials—towards a formal rational action theory. Rationality and Society, 9(3), 275–305.
Erikson, R., & Jonsson, J. O. (1996). Explaining class inequality in education: the Swedish test case. In R. Erikson & J. O. Jonsson (Eds.), Can education be equalized? The Swedish case in comparative perspective (pp. 1–63). Boulder: Westview Press.
Fairlie, R. W. (2005). An extension of the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique to logit and probit models. Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, 30(4), 305–316.
Heine, C., Spangenberg, H., & Willich, J. (2008). Studienberechtigte 2006 ein halbes Jahr nach Schulabschluss. Hannover: HIS.
Heublein, U., Schmelzer, R., & Sommer, D. (2005). Studienabbruchstudie 2005. Hannover: HIS.
Heublein, U., Schmelzer, R., Sommer, D., & Spangenberg, H. (2002). Studienabbruchstudie 2002. HIS Kurzinformation, 2002.
Hillmert, S., & Jacob, M. (2003). Social inequality in higher education. Is vocational training a pathway leading to or away from University? European Sociological Review, 19(3), 319–334.
Hillmert, S., & Kröhnert, S. (2003). Differenzierung und Erfolg tertiärer Ausbildungen: die Berufsakademie im Vergleich. Zeitschrift für Personalforschung, 17(2), 195–214.
Huismann, J. (1995). Differentiation, diversity, and dependency in higher education: A theoretical and empirical analysis. Utrecht: Lemma.
Jackson, M., Erikson, R., Goldthorpe, J. H., & Yaish, M. (2007). Primary and secondary effects in class differentials in educational attainment: The transition to A-level courses in England and Wales. Acta Sociologica, 50(3), 211–229.
Maaz, K. (2006). Soziale Herkunft und Hochschulzugang. Effekte institutioneller Öffnung im Bildungssystem. Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Maaz, K., Chang, P.-H., & Köller, O. (2004). Führt institutionelle Vielfalt zur Öffnung im Bildungssystem? Sozialer Hintergrund und kognitive Grundfähigkeit der Schülerschaft an allgemein bildenden und beruflichen Gymnasien. In O. Köller, R. Watermann, U. Trautwwein, & O. Lüdtke (Eds.), Wege zur Hochschulreife in Baden-Württemberg. TOSCA—Eine Untersuchung an allgemein bildenden und beruflichen Gymnasien (pp. 13–28). Opladen: Leske und Budrich.
Mayer, K. U., Müller, W., & Pollak, R. (2007). Germany: institutional change and inequalities of access in higher education. In Y. Shavit, R. Arum, & A. Gamoran (Eds.), Stratification in higher education. A comparative study (pp. 240–265). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Müller, W., Brauns, H., & Steinmann, S. (2002). Expansion und Erträge tertiärer Bildung in Deutschland, Frankreich und im Vereinigten Königreich. Berliner Journal für Soziologie, 12(1), 37–62.
Müller, W., Pollak, R., Reimer, D., & Schindler, S. (2009). Hochschulbildung und soziale Ungleichheit. In R. Becker (Ed.), Lehrbuch der Bildungssoziologie: Fragestellungen, Theorien und empirische Befunde (pp. 281–320). Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Reimer, D., & Pollak, R. (2010). Educational expansion and its consequences for vertical and horizontal inequalities in access to higher education in West Germany. European Sociological Review, 26(4), 415–430.
Statistisches Bundesamt. (2008a). Bildung und Kultur: Nichtmonetäre hochschulstatistische Kennzahlen 1980–2007. Wiesbaden: Statistisches Bundesamt.
Statistisches Bundesamt. (2008b). Bildung und Kultur: Studierende an Hochschulen Wintersemester 2007/2008. Wiesbaden: Statistisches Bundesamt.
Statistisches Bundesamt. (2008c). Fachserie 11/Reihe 1: Bildung und Kultur—Allgemeinbildende Schulen. Wiesbaden: Statistisches Bundesamt.
Statistisches Bundesamt. (2008d). Fachserie 11/Reihe 2: Bildung und Kultur—Berufliche Schulen. Wiesbaden: Statistisches Bundesamt.
Teichler, U. (1988). Changing patterns of the higher education system. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Trautwein, U., Maaz, K., Lüdtke, O., Nagy, G., Husemann, N., Watermann, R., et al. (2006). Studieren an der Berufsakademie oder an der Universität, Fachhochschule oder Pädagogischen Hochschule? Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 9(3), 393–412.
Trow, M. (2005). Reflections on the transition from elite to mass to universal access: forms and phases of higher education in modern societies since WWII. In P. G. Altbach & J. J. F. Forest (Eds.), International handbook of higher education. Part one: Global themes and contemporary challenges (pp. 243–280). Dordrecht: Springer.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schindler, S., Reimer, D. Differentiation and social selectivity in German higher education. High Educ 61, 261–275 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-010-9376-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-010-9376-9