Wealth-Based Inequalities in Higher Education Attendance: A Global Snapshot

• Published in: Educational researcher Vol. 52; no. 9; pp. 544 - 552
• Main Authors: Buckner, Elizabeth, Abdelaziz, Yara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-12-2023; American Educational Research Association
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Access to Education; Attendance; College Attendance; Comparative Education; Developed Nations; Developing Nations; Diversity equity & inclusion; Economic Factors; Educational Equity (Finance); Equal Education; Higher Education; Income; Income inequality; International education; Paying for College; Predictor Variables; Socioeconomic Status; Wealth; indicators/information services; descriptive analysis; comparative education; secondary data analysis; higher education; international education/studies; equity
• ISSN: 0013-189X; 1935-102X
• DOI: 10.3102/0013189X231194307

This study provides a comprehensive global snapshot of wealth-based inequalities in higher education attendance. We draw on data from 117 countries to describe cross-national patterns in higher education attendance rates, disaggregated by wealth quintile and country income group. We then calculate four different indicators to quantify the size of wealth-based inequality in higher education attendance and completion for each country. Our findings point to large wealth-based inequalities in higher education attendance cross-nationally, which are: substantially larger than inequalities in secondary completion, larger in low- and middle-income countries than high-income countries, and negatively associated with national wealth. The results serve as a foundation for future studies on how country-level factors and policies exacerbate or reduce wealth-based inequalities.