The Czech Republic: structural growth of inequality in access to higher education

In this chapter, the authors aim to compare the development of inequality in access to tertiary education during the communist and post-communist periods of development in the Czech Republic. They address the question of how higher education reform and recent policies have influenced inequalities in access to higher education, with a focus on the role of gender and socioeconomic background. Data from three surveys were merged to provide a comparative sample across the stages of political development in the country. The data is used to test the hypothesis that the period of persisting inequality under socialism was followed by one of increasing inequality during the post-communist transformation. The analysis confirms an increase of inequality in access to higher education after 1989. Despite substantial reform, the sector has not kept up with rising educational aspirations or substantial increases in the number of secondary graduates. The system has no lower tier resulting in strong competition for places, with children of semiskilled and unskilled workers suffering the most in relation to all other classes. Show less