Social class and the choice of education. An empirical application of the subjective expected utility theory

This empirical study seeks to contribute to the explanation of class differences in educational opportunities in the transition from primary to secondary education. According to recent theoretical explanations the social inequality in education results - apart from the historical conditions and institutions of the educational system - from rational choices of parents about the continuation of their children's education. There is a nexus between class specific evaluation of costs and benefits of higher education and educational choice, which depends on the parents' resources and the selection and allocation function of the educational system. This interrelationship results in unequal educational attainment among the children of different social classes. These hypotheses are tested by employing a two-step model of the dynamics of choices and actual transition. Using panel data and logistic regression as well as considering the children's social origin the rise of educational aspirations and the following transition to higher education cracks are analyzed. The results lend support to the mechanisms and processes assumed by the subjective expected utility approach. However, there is an open question about the historical persistence of class differences in education in spite of educational expansion and school reforms.