Equality of Opportunity in Higher Education

Equality of Opportunity in Higher Education: The Contribution of an Open University

An issue that has concerned sociologists, who have studied the expansion of higher education, is the consequence of this process in terms of social stratification. Does the increase in the number of universities and colleges ensure growing access by students from disadvantaged social categories? Or does the inequality tend to persist, because potential students from the more advantaged groups tend to utilize the growing opportunities better than those from lower social strata?

Previous studies that have examined the expansion of higher education and its effect on educational inequality have usually discussed the contribution of all educational frameworks taken as a whole and have not distinguished between various types of educational institutions. These studies which have been carried out in a large number of developed countries (see summary in Boliver, 2010) tend to agree in their conclusions: Expansion in higher education does not necessarily reduce inequality.

The present paper examines the contribution of a special type of educational framework, an open access distance teaching university – as exemplified by the Open University of Israel (OUI). Does this type of university provide a unique contribution to the increase of equality by eliminating several barriers that have previously prevented equality of opportunity in higher education?

Data relating to the OUI and characterizing its student body at two different points in time show that also in this educational framework, students from a higher status background tend to choose the more prestigious fields of studies, whereas students who hail from a lower status background are usually registered in the less prestigious subject areas. This is noticeable in view of the entirely open admission both to the university as such and to its different departments. The general significance of this finding will be discussed.