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Does college level the playing field? Socioeconomic gaps in the earnings of similar graduates: evidence from South Korea

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Vignoles, A 

Abstract

jats:titleAbstract</jats:title>jats:pThe socioeconomic gap in participation at university is an enduring policy issue in South Korea, as in many other countries. However, less attention has been paid to the socioeconomic gap in the outcomes from tertiary education. This paper addresses this gap in the literature, using the Korean Education and Employment Panel (KEEP) data to investigate the extent to which the wages of Korean graduates who attended similar higher education institutions vary by socioeconomic background. The results show that a degree appears to largely level the playing field, in terms of earnings, between male graduates from poor and rich backgrounds. For females, by contrast, family background is still a strong predictor of earnings, even after allowing for institution attended and discipline of degree. Further, the wage premium for 2-year and 4-year college degrees also varies by family background. Four-year college degrees, contrary to popular belief, do not always attract a higher wage premium than 2-year college degrees, particularly for men from poorer family backgrounds.</jats:p>

Description

Keywords

Socioeconomic gaps, Graduate earnings, Wage premium, College type

Journal Title

Higher Education

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0018-1560
1573-174X

Volume Title

83

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC