Privileging the Privileged: The Effects of International University Rankings on a Chilean Fellowship Program for Graduate Studies Abroad

Abstract

In the last few decades, many developing countries have dramatically expanded the number of government-sponsored fellowships for graduate studies abroad to increase their participation in the knowledge economy. To award these grants, these programs have typically relied on international university rankings as their main selection criterion. Existing studies suggest these fellowships have been disproportionally awarded to applicants from privileged social backgrounds, thus intensifying existing national educational inequalities. However, this evidence is mostly anecdotal and descriptive in nature. In this article, we focus on a Chilean fellowship program, an iconic example of these policies. Using a causal path analysis mediation model and relying on social reproduction and stratification theories, we investigated whether the distribution of fellowships varied across applicants from different socioeconomic backgrounds and how university rankings affect applicants’ chances of obtaining the fellowship. Our findings revealed that, in a context of high social inequalities and a stratified education system, using international rankings as an awarding criterion reinforced the position of privilege of individuals who accrued educational advantages in high school, as well as the disadvantages of those less fortunate who faced fewer prior educational opportunities.

Buscando un trabajo académico: un análisis exploratorio de las relaciones entre clase social de origen de los académicos y redes de contratación en universidades chilenas.

“…Subsequently, social class of origin continues mediating the chances of being hired at prestigious universities, because academic departments with high levels of prestige recruit candidates who completed their doctorate degrees at top-ranked foreign universities (Celis & Kim, 2018;Celis & Véliz, 2017). In line with what other studies show on the relationship between social class of origin and prestige of one's PhD-granting university (Chiappa & Perez Mejias, 2019;Perez Mejias et al, 2018), most of upper social class participants in this study went to better ranked PhD-granting universities as compared with their low-class and middle-class peers.…”

“…Nonetheless, since public funding access is subjected to processes of academic quality assurance and favors the profile of research-intensive universities, academic departments have increasingly set the doctorate degree as one of the minimum requirements for hiring (Bernasconi, 2008;Celis & Véliz, 2017). Similarly, the heavy reliance of international and national university rankings on research outcomes (Pusser & Marginson, 2013;Perez Mejias et al, 2018) has reinforced the strategic role of "researcher academics" to build the institutional prestige of universities (Bernasconi, 2010).…”

“…Furthermore, this practice-filtering/recruiting candidates based on the prestige of PhD-granting universities-may contribute to the social-class reproduction of academics, particularly in countries where the chances of entering prestigious PhD-granting universities is strongly associated with the social class of origin of individuals (For the USA, see Crane, 1969;González Canché 2017;Ostrove, Stewart, & Curtin, 2011; for Chile, see Perez Mejias, Chiappa, & Guzmán-Valenzuela, 2018). Social class of origin, broadly defined here, represents the social, cultural and economic assets inherited from one's family (Bourdieu, 1987).…”

“…However, different sources of information show that more than half of the students enrolled in Chilean doctorate programs come from families whose parents have college degrees or who studied at private high schools (MECESUP, 2014;MINEDUC, 2018a). Likewise, it is estimated that around 56 % of the individuals who received one of the government fellowships to study in a foreign university within the period 2011-2015 went to private high schools (Perez Mejias et al, 2018). Potentially, the structural inequality of the Chilean higher education system could also be affecting the possibilities of earlycareer doctorate holders finding a job in the Chilean labor market as will be explained below.…”

Universities Under Pressure: the Impact of International University Rankings

“…For instance, ranking has been observed to be a factor in the recognition of university degrees or in the eligibility of institutions for the establishment of bilateral agreements (European University Association, 2013). Specifically, rankings have been used in fellowship allocation policies for students in contexts of high social inequality and stratified educational systems, increasing the differences between students who are in a privileged situation compared to those who have fewer educational opportunities (Perez Mejias, Chiappa, & Guzmán-Valenzuela, 2018).…”