Social inequality in access to prestigious fields of study: The interplay of students’ application behavior and universities’ recruitment procedures

这个项目研究在进入著名研究领域方面的社会不平等。这些领域令人感兴趣，因为不仅是高等教育学位，而且所完成的研究领域也影响着未来劳动力市场的成就。在医学和药学的研究项目中，我们调查了大学的招生程序和标准以及它们与申请者的个人特征和申请行为的相互作用是否以及如何导致在获得这些领域的全国性精选大学名额方面的社会不平等。我们在登记中使用了由WZB进行的Stiftung Fuer Hochschulzulassung和链接的在线研究数据。该项目的目的是更好地了解大学的招生程序和标准是否以及为什么对来自低社会背景和高社会背景的申请者的申请成功产生不同的影响。我们将探讨所谓的社会分层的主要影响(即，基于成绩)和次要影响(基于教育决策和应用战略，扣除成绩差异)有多重要。该项目将提供新的见解，了解进入著名研究领域(和这些职业)的社会不平等是如何由体制障碍造成的，以及哪些招聘程序和标准对社会背景较低的申请者特别不利。

This project studies social inequalities in access to prestigious fields of studies. These fields are of interest as not only a tertiary educational degree but also the fields of study completed influence future labor market attainment. We investigate for the study programs in medicine and pharmacy whether and how universities’ recruitment procedures and criteria and their interplay with applicants’ individual characteristics and application behavior contribute to social inequalities in access to the nationwide selective university places in these fields. We use in register data of the Stiftung fuer Hochschulzulassung and a linked online study, conducted by the WZB. The aim of the project is to better understand whether and why universities’ recruitment procedures and criteria influence success of applications differently for applicants from lower and higher social background. We will explore how important are so-called primary effects of social stratification (i.e., based on performance) and secondary effects (based on educational decisions and application strategies, net of differences in performance). The project will provide new insights in how social inequalities in access to prestigious fields of studies (and these occupations) are generated by institutional hurdles and which recruitment procedures and criteria are particularly disadvantageous for applicants from lower social background.