Dropouts and transfers: socioeconomic segregation in entrance to and exit from the Chilean higher education

ABSTRACT

This study explores the disparate trajectories of students in Chilean higher education and how these alter socioeconomic segregation within this system. The study follows the cohort of students who entered higher education in 2011 for eight years through census-type data. It uses two segregation indexes to make novel comparisons of socioeconomic segregation at the beginning and the end of their passage through higher education. The results show high dropout rates among students of low socioeconomic status, and high mobility between degree programs and institutions across the socioeconomic spectrum, with significant nuances in the type of mobility experienced by different socioeconomic groups. However, dropouts and transfers between degree programs, institutions, and types of institutions do not significantly modify the levels of socioeconomic segregation seven years after entrance. These results indicate that socioeconomic segregation in higher education is set to a large extent upon entrance to this system.

KEYWORDS:

• Higher education
• dropouts
• transfers
• socioeconomic segregation
• inequity

Acknowledgments

Support from ANID/ PIA/ Basal Funds for Centers of Excellence FB0003 is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank the Agency of Education Quality for providing access to the dataset. All the results of the study are the responsibility of the authors and do not compromise the said Institution.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data from SIMCE that support the findings of this study are available upon request to the Agency of Education Quality. The request for these data must be completed by following this link https://informacionestadistica.agenciaeducacion.cl/#/bases. Regarding the SIES data that support the findings of this study, they are openly available on the website of the Chilean Ministry of Education at http://bit.ly/2DhBCD7.

Additional information

Funding

This work received funding from ANID/ PIA/ Basal Funds for Centers of Excellence FB0003.