A vast number of studies conducted by the OECD and World Bank has well-documented that those countries reforming their educational systems and eliminating a variety of socio-economic barriers causing inequal access to education are today world leaders in competitiveness and economic growth. Yet, the Czech Republic still maintains its leading position in unequal access to higher education among the OECD countries. We suspect that one of the underlying causes of educational inequality is not only the socio-economic background of students, but also outdated structure of educational system, it’s low degree of openness and permeability. Therefore, the primary purpose of this project is to identify main causes of unequal access to higher education in the Czech Republic. Using already existing sets of longitudinal data, a number follow-up surveys will be carried out to examine two relevant cohorts: students finishing compulsory school attendance in 2003 (a panel of respondents assembled for the PISA 2003 project) and first-year university students (VS 2003/4). The analysis of these data, supplemented with a comparative analyses of the OECD data, will unveil the underlying causes of educational inequalities and mechanisms of their reproduction. The project will conclude with an extensive monograph and suggestions of possible educational reforms pertaining to the solution of the problem of educational inequalities; inequalities which in the long run represent far-reaching negative social as well as economic consequences (i.e., loss of human resources and competitiveness) for the Czech Republic.
Project publications (total 20, displaying 1 - 10)
Text je odpovědí na diskusní příspěvek Rudolfa Pomazala s knihou České vysoké školství na křižovatce (Sociologický ústav 2005). Ukazuje, že R. Pomazal má na problematiku řešení a zvyšování konkurenceschopnosti vysokoškolského vzdělání v ČR stejný (nebo alespoň velmi podobný) názor, stejně jako na to, jakým směrem by se mělo české vysoké školství ubírat. Replika ukazuje, že jde z jeho strany převážně o doplnění a nazření tvrzení autorů knihy z jiného úhlu, nikoli o jejich popření.
In this chapter I try to recapitulate up to now findings about character and extent of educational inequalities in the socialist Czech Republic in the period from 1916 to 1995. I also try to verify and update these findings through a new mobility analysis. I ask two key questions: In what ways are these mobility systems (pre-socialist and socialist) different? Was the Czech education system and indirectly the Czech society as a whole becoming more or less open?
The article overviewed the international conference of the ISA association (International Sociological Association) International - RC28 Spring Meeting "Social Inequality and Mobility in the Process of Social Transformation," co-organized by the Institute of Sociology, ASCR, v.vand the Faculty of Social Studies of Masaryk University in Brno, May 24-27 2007
This article analyzes changes in the determination of Czech educational aspirations from 1989 to 2003, on the basis of social origin, ability, gender and other factors. The empirical research is based on a comparison of Czech data from the "Rodina ’89" and the 2003 PISA-L surveys. The article hypothesizes that social origin had a stronger direct impact on educational aspirations in 1989, while in 2003 it had a much stronger indirect influence.
The chapter addresses a hypothesis according to which inequality in access to higher education did not decrease during socialism, while it has grown during the post-communist transformation. The analysis revealed that the only significant change that occurred during socialism was a decrease of inequality between men and women. It also confirmed a significant growth in the effect of class background on the odds of making the transition between secondary and tertiary education after 1989.
The aspirations and expectations of pupils are one of the most significant causal factors on achieving higher education. Educational expectations are also incfluenced by the social status of the family, the institutional context of educational systems, and other factors.
The paper addresses the changes in the role of social background in the formation of educational aspirations of adolescents during the social transformation in the Czech Republic. Using the data from surveys carried out in 1989 a 2003, the authors test the hypothesis that in 1989 the social origin had a strong direct effect on aspirations, while in 2003 its effect was primarily indirect. However, the overall effect remained very strong.
The book follows up on the monograph (Un)equal chances for education (Academia 2006). Authors update findings on inequalities in compulsory education, on multi-year gymnasia, on inequalities in tertiary education, on the impact of the structure of the system of upper secondary education on education aspirations. They also add other important topics: further education, education of Roma children and early school leavers.
The main objective of this paper is to show to what extent and why students with the same academic aptitude but different social backgrounds have different odds of entering university. For our analysis, we separated primary and secondary factors of social origin in the formation of educational inequalities. The results of the conducted analyses (using logistic regression) show that the primary and secondary factors have approximately the same influence on the transition to university.
The editorial shows the amount of themes represented in this monothematic number of Socioweb, devoted to Sociology of Education. It indicates how heterogeneous can the work on this theme be in one small research team. In the same time it shows what do members of the team produce lately.
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