A Story of Strengths and Weaknesses in Tertiary Education: Evaluating ‘Mobility’ and ‘Opportunities’ in OECD Countries with Composite Indicators

Francesco Chelli, Mariateresa Ciommi, Francesca Mariani, Gloria Polinesi, Maria Cristina Recchioni, Giuseppe Ricciardo Lamonica and Luca Salvati ()
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Francesco Chelli: Department of Social and Economic Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Piazzale Martelli 8, I-60121 Ancona, Italy
Francesca Mariani: Department of Social and Economic Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Piazzale Martelli 8, I-60121 Ancona, Italy
Gloria Polinesi: Department of Social and Economic Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Piazzale Martelli 8, I-60121 Ancona, Italy
Maria Cristina Recchioni: Department of Social and Economic Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Piazzale Martelli 8, I-60121 Ancona, Italy
Giuseppe Ricciardo Lamonica: Department of Social and Economic Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Piazzale Martelli 8, I-60121 Ancona, Italy
Luca Salvati: Department of Methods and Models for Economics, Territory and Finance, Faculty of Economics, Sapienza University of Rome, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, I-00161 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-19

Abstract: Assuming a high education level associated with a high probability of job occupancy and greater income, comparative exercises analyzing academic performances and socioeconomic dynamics at regional, country, or supra-national scales have intensified in recent years. As far as tertiary education is concerned, a great disparity in academic performance was characteristic of OECD countries. While adults 25–34 years old were attaining tertiary degrees more frequently than adults 55–64 years old, adults 30–34 years old with at least one tertiary-educated parent were more likely to attain a tertiary degree than individuals from families whose parents have attended secondary—or at least primary—education. ‘Mobility’ and ‘opportunities’ are two dimensions of sustainable education systems that deserve further investigation when assessing disparities in academic performances as a possible source of unsustainable development and social polarizations. ‘Mobility’ refers to the probability of achieving tertiary education for children coming from families with a different—i.e., lower (e.g., secondary or primary)—level of education. ‘Opportunities’ refers to the probability for a child to attain tertiary education, regardless of the education level achieved by the parents. The present study proposes a quantitative assessment of both dimensions through an original approach and novel statistical measures ranking OECD countries. A comparison of individual rankings of ‘mobility’ and ‘opportunities’ reveals counterintuitive results in some cases. To overcome this issue, our study introduces aggregate methods combining the two measures with the aim of developing a bivariate ranking that accounts for both dimensions simultaneously and delineates a more complete evolution of academic performance divides in advanced economies.

Keywords: education; mobility; opportunities; socioeconomic dynamics; advanced economies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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