Higher education, inequality and distributive beliefs: Evidence from the Chilean case

During the year 2011, Chile has been site of several student´s demonstrations claiming for more equity in the access to the higher education. These claims have as background several studies that characterize the Chilean educational system as one of the most economically segregated at world level (OECD, 2010). The high support to the protests by the side of the general population (nearly 80% of approval in public opinion polls) seems to suggest the existence of a large consensus about the weaknesses of the Chilean educative model, a model that would challenge the traditional ideals of meritocracy and social mobility that are at the core of the educational systems in modern societies. In this context, a question that remains open is to what extent these claims are mostly based on consensual equality ideals, or whether they are influenced by individual socio-economic determinants vis-à-vis rational motives. Using data of the social inequality module International Social Survey Program (ISSP) of 2009, this research analyzes perceptions and beliefs about education and the distributive system as well as the influence of income and educational variables in a structural equation modeling framework. We propose that, instead of a widespread consensus, there are significant differences within the population regarding inequality in education, differences that would be at least partially explained by rational interests linked to social status: those with higher status would perceive less educational inequalities than those with less status. Preliminary results give partial support to the hypotheses, unveiling the presence of socio-economic cleavages that seem to be hidden under the idea of a normative consensus about the function of educational system as a redistributive mechanism.