| Abstract [eng] |
Title: The Secondary Effects of Social Origin on the Choice of Study Field. The “Secondary” Effects of Social Origin on the Choice of Study Field Although past research has found strong socioeconomic status (SES) effects on the decision to undertake higher education, there is only sparse empirical work investigating social class influence on the choice of study field (degree subject) and even less papers that would attempt to explain the occurring differences. This Master’s theses sought to assess the “secondary” effects of social origin, class differences in preferences for different program characteristics, controlling for final exam results. The results of multinomial and logistic regressions, used for testing the hypotheses, confirm the existence of “secondary” effects. Furthermore, it indicate that students who come from higher SES families prefer programs with higher earnings risk (measured as standard deviation of income, standard deviation of the residuals of Mincer equation and the coefficient of relative risk) and are more prone to choose academic programs. Students from families of lower SES, to the contrary, are prone to study in professionally oriented programs. Empirical tests did not provide support for the arguments that those of higher socioeconomic origin are more inclined to choose “soft” academic fields (social sciences, humanities and arts) or programs offering the highest cultural returns (education and teacher training, social sciences, humanities and arts). |
