Equity in Tertiary Education in Central America : An Overview

This paper analyzes the evolution in socio-economic and ethnic disparities in tertiary education attainment, participation, and completion and labor market outcomes in the six countries of Central America. There is evidence of differential progress...

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Main Authors: Bashir, Sajitha, Luque, Javier
Format: Policy Research Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/08/16625151/equity-tertiary-education-central-america-overview
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12022
id okr-10986-12022
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-120222021-04-23T14:02:59Z Equity in Tertiary Education in Central America : An Overview Bashir, Sajitha Luque, Javier ACCESS TO EDUCATION COMPLETION RATE ETHNIC INEQUALITY HOUSEHOLD DATA LABOR MARKET PARTICIPATION QUALITY OF EDUCATION SOCIOECONOMIC DISPARITY TERTIARY EDUCATION This paper analyzes the evolution in socio-economic and ethnic disparities in tertiary education attainment, participation, and completion and labor market outcomes in the six countries of Central America. There is evidence of differential progress, with Costa Rica, a middle-income country, and Nicaragua, a low-income country, having improved participation of low-income students in tertiary education, while this continues to be negligible in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Wide differentials in salaries linked to socio-economic background can signal differences in the quality of tertiary education or prior educational experiences. The analysis distinguishes between long-term and short-term constraints and the key transitions in the education cycle that impede access to tertiary education. The main obstacle to accessing tertiary education for poor students is the failure to either start or complete secondary education, suggesting different priorities for different countries in addressing long-term constraints. However, problems also arise within tertiary education, as in all countries the average tertiary education completion rate is below 50 percent, with even lower rates for students from low-income families and indigenous backgrounds. The paper uses an OECD framework for public policies for promoting equity in tertiary education to assess policies in Central American countries and concludes that many of them currently lack the policies, instruments, and institutional mechanisms to promote greater equity in tertiary education. The paper highlights how valuable insights can be obtained from analysis of household survey data in the absence of comprehensive data on tertiary education which is typical of many developing countries. 2012-12-21T21:00:18Z 2012-12-21T21:00:18Z 2012-08 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/08/16625151/equity-tertiary-education-central-america-overview http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12022 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;6180 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Latin America & Caribbean
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic ACCESS TO EDUCATION
COMPLETION RATE
ETHNIC INEQUALITY
HOUSEHOLD DATA
LABOR MARKET
PARTICIPATION
QUALITY OF EDUCATION
SOCIOECONOMIC DISPARITY
TERTIARY EDUCATION
spellingShingle ACCESS TO EDUCATION
COMPLETION RATE
ETHNIC INEQUALITY
HOUSEHOLD DATA
LABOR MARKET
PARTICIPATION
QUALITY OF EDUCATION
SOCIOECONOMIC DISPARITY
TERTIARY EDUCATION
Bashir, Sajitha
Luque, Javier
Equity in Tertiary Education in Central America : An Overview
geographic_facet Latin America & Caribbean
relation Policy Research Working Paper;6180
description This paper analyzes the evolution in socio-economic and ethnic disparities in tertiary education attainment, participation, and completion and labor market outcomes in the six countries of Central America. There is evidence of differential progress, with Costa Rica, a middle-income country, and Nicaragua, a low-income country, having improved participation of low-income students in tertiary education, while this continues to be negligible in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Wide differentials in salaries linked to socio-economic background can signal differences in the quality of tertiary education or prior educational experiences. The analysis distinguishes between long-term and short-term constraints and the key transitions in the education cycle that impede access to tertiary education. The main obstacle to accessing tertiary education for poor students is the failure to either start or complete secondary education, suggesting different priorities for different countries in addressing long-term constraints. However, problems also arise within tertiary education, as in all countries the average tertiary education completion rate is below 50 percent, with even lower rates for students from low-income families and indigenous backgrounds. The paper uses an OECD framework for public policies for promoting equity in tertiary education to assess policies in Central American countries and concludes that many of them currently lack the policies, instruments, and institutional mechanisms to promote greater equity in tertiary education. The paper highlights how valuable insights can be obtained from analysis of household survey data in the absence of comprehensive data on tertiary education which is typical of many developing countries.
format Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
author Bashir, Sajitha
Luque, Javier
author_facet Bashir, Sajitha
Luque, Javier
author_sort Bashir, Sajitha
title Equity in Tertiary Education in Central America : An Overview
title_short Equity in Tertiary Education in Central America : An Overview
title_full Equity in Tertiary Education in Central America : An Overview
title_fullStr Equity in Tertiary Education in Central America : An Overview
title_full_unstemmed Equity in Tertiary Education in Central America : An Overview
title_sort equity in tertiary education in central america : an overview
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2012
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/08/16625151/equity-tertiary-education-central-america-overview
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12022
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