Changes in socioeconomic inequality in access to study abroad programs: A cross-country analysis. (April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Di Pietro, Giorgio
• Is Part Of: Research in social stratification and mobility. Volume 66(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-04
• Subjects: Study abroad -- Socioeconomic background -- Italy -- Decomposition -- France -- Germany; Social mobility -- Periodicals; Occupational mobility -- Periodicals; Social status -- Periodicals; Social conflict -- Periodicals; Social classes -- Periodicals; Mobilité sociale -- Périodiques; Mobilité professionnelle -- Périodiques; Statut social -- Périodiques; Conflits sociaux -- Périodiques; Classes sociales -- Périodiques; 305.05
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rssm.2019.100465
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0276-5624

Abstract

Highlights: We study changes in the link between social background and study abroad participation. We focus on Italy, France and Germany between the 2000s and mid-2010s. The social gap in access to study abroad programs did not decrease in any country. Academic performance and earlier education decisions account for a portion of the gap. Abstract: The growing evidence about the benefits of studying abroad calls for increased public efforts to equalize study abroad opportunities among university students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Using student-level data from the nationally representative surveys of three European countries (Italy, France and Germany) between the 2000s and mid-2010s, this paper investigates how the social gap in access to study abroad programs changed over time and what are the factors driving these changes. Logistic regressions are used in order to identify the determinants of study abroad program participation and a decomposition technique is employed in an attempt to both determine how much of the gap each factor explains and compare its relative contribution over time. The results indicate that, not only has disparity in study abroad participation rate between students from more and less advantaged backgrounds not decreased in any of the countries considered here, but there is consistent evidence showing that it has increased in Germany. Differences in earlier educational trajectories and performance between these two groups of students are important predictors of the gap. However, a large part of this gap remains unexplained, and this underscores the important role played by unobserved or difficult-to-measure factors in accounting for inequality.