Stratification in Higher Education: A Comparative Study (Studies in Social Inequality) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0804754624 ISBN 13: 9780804754620

Publisher: Stanford University Press, 2007

Synopsis

The mass expansion of higher education is one of the most important social transformations of the second half of the twentieth century. In this book, scholars from 15 countries, representing Western and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Israel, Australia, and the United States, assess the links between this expansion and inequality in the national context.

Contrary to most expectations, the authors show that as access to higher education expands, all social classes benefit. Neither greater diversification nor privatization in higher education results in greater inequality. In some cases, especially where the most advantaged already have significant access to higher education, opportunities increase most for persons from disadvantaged origins. Also, during the late twentieth century, opportunities for women increased faster than those for men. Offering a new spin on conventional wisdom, this book shows how all social classes benefit from the expansion of higher education.

About this title

About the Author

Yossi Shavit is Professor of Sociology at Tel Aviv University and Head of the B. I. and Lucille Cohen Institute for Public Opinion Research. Richard Arum is Professor of Sociology and Education at New York University. Adam Gamoran is Professor of Sociology and Educational Policy Studies and Director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

From the Back Cover

“This book provides rich details about the institutional arrangements, history, and issues related to funding and access in higher education systems throughout the industrialized world. Its comprehensive comparative analysis of major changes occurring in higher education everywhere offers insights into stratification and educational expansion that will provoke debate and spark future research.” —Claudia Buchmann, The Ohio State University

“This volume provides a model of conceptually rich and methodologically rigorous analyses of the expansion of higher education and its implications for social outcomes. It represents collaborative research at its best. The insights generated by this research suggest social policies that should further broaden access to higher education.”
—Maureen T. Hallinan, Director, Center for Research on Educational Opportunity, University of Notre Dame

From the Inside Flap

The mass expansion of higher education is one of the most important social transformations of the second half of the twentieth century. In this book, scholars from 15 countries, representing Western and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Israel, Australia, and the United States, assess the links between this expansion and inequality in the national context.
Contrary to most expectations, the authors show that as access to higher education expands, all social classes benefit. Neither greater diversification nor privatization in higher education results in greater inequality. In some cases, especially where the most advantaged already have significant access to higher education, opportunities increase most for persons from disadvantaged origins. Also, during the late twentieth century, opportunities for women increased faster than those for men. Offering a new spin on conventional wisdom, this book shows how all social classes benefit from the expansion of higher education.

Edition details

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0804754624
• ISBN 13: 9780804754620
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 504
• Editor: Shavit Yossi, Arum Richard, Gamoran Adam