Higher Education Selection : Implications for Social Inequality

Smyth, Emer and Iannelli, Cristina and Klein, Markus (2016) Higher Education Selection : Implications for Social Inequality. European Studies Research Institute (ESRI).

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Abstract

Supporting the transition from school to higher education (HE) has been a focus of the Irish educational policy agenda in recent years, with changes in the nature of Leaving Certificate grading and many HE institutions moving to more general entry routes (rather than highly specialised courses) . How best to select students for different courses and institutions is an important dimension of this debate. This bulletin documents new analyses which use the different approaches to HE selection in Ireland and Scotland to yield insights into this important policy issue. The findings are based on data from the Irish and Scottish School Leaver Surveys over the period 1987 to 2005. The subsequent discontinuation of both national surveys means that we cannot analyse patterns over the past decade. However, while the level of participation of different social groups will have changed, the underlying social processes are unlikely to have altered fundamentally.

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