Test-Based Admission to Selective Universities: A Lever for First-Generation Students or a Safety Net for the Professional Classes?

Abstract

This article examines whether the existence of a secondary higher education admission system honouring more qualitative and extra-curricular merits has reduced the social class gap in access to highly sought-after university programmes in Denmark. I use administrative data to examine differences in the social gradient in the primary admission system, admitting students on the basis of their high school grade point average, and in the secondary admission system, admitting university students based on more qualitative assessments. I find that the secondary higher education admission system does not favour first-generation students; further, the system serves as an access route for low-achieving children from the privileged professional classes. Drawing mainly on theories in the social closure tradition, I argue that children with highly educated parents will be favoured when qualitative merits are honoured, and that professional-class families will be especially vigilant in pursuing educational pathways that will secure the reproduction of their class.

Alternative pathways and social disparities in access to elite higher education institutions

“…The results of the present study suggest that even if advantaged students are more likely to transfer in relative terms, alternative pathways allow quantitatively more students from disadvantaged backgrounds and with lower academic preparation to enter GE and maintain the diversity benefits of this policy. This finding echoes the findings regarding alternative pathways to higher education in Russia (Yastrebov et al, 2018), but contrasts with other studies that have found that advantaged students maintain or increase their entrance advantage through alternative pathways (Belasco et al, 2015;Berggren, 2007;Thomsen, 2016).…”

“…For example, in Sweden, where the main entrance route to higher education is based on high school GPA, Berggren (2007) finds that upper class male applicants are more likely to use an alternative entrance route that relies on the results of a specific scholastic testthe SweSAT. Similarly, in Denmark, an alternative entrance route based more on qualitative and extra-curricular activities than the high school GPA was found to have little impact on the social gradient of students accepted and to be most often used as an entrance route for low-performing upper class students (Thomsen, 2016). Likewise, in the U.S., the test-optional movement, allowing students not to submit their standardised test score such as SAT or ACT for their selective college application, has not increased the share of low-income or minority students in the universities that implemented it (Belasco et al, 2015).…”

Institutional determination or teacher bias? Examining the mechanisms of cultural capital in China

“…Based on the egalitarian educational policy, test‐oriented examinations are applied to schooling broadly and have become the most prominent characteristic of the Chinese educational system. It has been confirmed that accountability and transparency, such as standardization of educational systems, are particularly beneficial for lower SES families (Park, 2008; Thomsen, 2018). Test‐oriented examinations imply that the criteria for assessing students can be quantified objectively rather than subjectively judged by teachers or other institutions.…”

Os sentidos do trabalho no serviço público: uma perspectiva geracional

“…Percebe-se uma grande influência dos pais na formação dos filhos, inclusive, através de escolhas profissionais iguais ou próximas a de um dos pais. Segundo os entrevistados, essa aproximação das escolhas profissionais dos pais ocorre, pois os filhos observam os pais bemsucedidos e buscam seguir seu exemplo, um processo de continuidade da transferência geracional associada à mobilidade de classe (Thomsen, 2016). A vivência que os pais desta geração tiveram durante as difíceis décadas de 1980 e 1990, com experiências de desemprego e insegurança, contribuíram para que houvesse um grande incentivo para que seus filhos seguissem a carreira pública devido à instabilidade dos vínculos no mercado privado.…”