Reduction of the educational inequality

In Germany students from a non-academic family background are still underrepresented in universities.

In Germany students from a non-academic family background are still underrepresented in universities

Prof. Dr. Katharina Spieß is a professor for educational and family economics at the Freie Universität Berlin and the acting head of the department for "educational economics" at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). She is part of the Research Group of the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) at the DIW Berlin. Katharina is a member of several advisory boards on the federal and state level. Her research interests cover early education issues, family policy and inequalities in education.

She studied economics and politics at the University of Mannheim completing her studies in 1992 to become an economist (Diplomvolkswirtin). In 1996 she finished her doctorate at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and in 2005 her post-doctoral studies in the Economy and Management Faculty of the Technische Universität Berlin. She has been Professor for Educational and Family Economics at the Free University of Berlin in cooperation with the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) since July 2006 and has been Head of the Educational Policy Department of DIW since 2012. C. Katharina Spieß has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB) since 2007.

Invited by Dr. Valentova Marie, researcher in our unit “Childhood, Family and Education Policies”, Prof. Dr. K. Spieß presented a research document she co-wrote with Dr. Frauke Peter, Vaishali Zambre, and Dr. Johanna Storck on "Preference for College and Educational Inequality: Do Students Lack Information?"

She explained that in Germany students from a non-academic family background are still underrepresented in universities. Even though access to higher education has increased, students from non-academic family backgrounds are still twenty percentage points less likely to enrol in university compared to their peers from academic backgrounds. Since in Germany no tuition fees need to be paid, financial constraints are less likely to explain this educational inequality. Recent evidence suggests that students’ choice against university education is based on incomplete information. Using data from a randomized controlled trial this study examines whether improving the level of information reduces differences in students’ intention to study. For students from non-academic family backgrounds the provision of information increased their preference for university education. The results suggest that providing information may be a suitable policy tool to reduce educational inequality at the transition to tertiary education.