volii mauritti martins english-final

7/30/2019 VolII Mauritti Martins English-Final

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HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTSContexts and social origins

Rosrio Mauritti and Susana da Cruz Martins

One of the issues that has regularly made its presence felt in sociology isthe analysis of educational qualifications as a key component in theconfiguration of societies and their development processes. This iscertainly one of the areas in which we can clearly see both the growingimportance of the transverse processes taking place worldwide in the

context of globalization and the national differences that persist, thoughthey themselves are also undergoing change.

Within this framework, the present chapter begins by stressing thespecific contributions of research carried out in Portugal over recentyears on the topic of higher education students. Then, with the lastdecade as its analytical reference, it offers an assessment of theexpansion at this educational level in Portugal and evaluates thedifferent probabilities of access, according to the students social origins.Finally, in the third part, it places the dynamics of socio-educationalexpansion within a comparative perspective encompassing the EuropeanUnion.

An objectwith a presence in Portuguese sociology

Higher education students represent a population segment with aconsiderable social protagonism, as young students with potentiallysignificant social destinies: they are often involved in the most significantdynamics of social change in present-day societies. Their social andanalytical relevance is clearly seen in the numerous Portuguese studiesthat take higher education students and graduates as the object of theiranalysis.

From the late 1960s to the early 1970s the sociological workproduced here in Portugal was marked by Adrito Sedas Nunes work,

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which concentrated on university students social origins (Nunes, 2000).1

From the mid-1980s this initial work was the subject of new analyticalinvestigation through an ISCTE-based research programme on highereducation students (Almeida, Costa and Machado, 1988; Machado, Costaand Almeida, 1989; Costa, Machado and Almeida; 1990). Against abackground in which the expansion of access to higher education wasgaining prominence, the research carried out at the time sought toanalyze university students from a twin point of view: a socialcharacterization, on the one hand, and their value systems on the other.The developments in this programme in the 1990s produced results at aresearch level, e.g. Casanova (1993a and 1993b). At a later stage, in a

partnership between CIES and the OPJ (Permanent Observatory forYouth), the same questionnaire was applied to a representative sampleof degree students in the country, in the various geographical areas andfields of study (Mauritti, 2002; Almeida, vila, Casanova, Costa, Machado,Martins and Mauritti, 2003; Machado, Costa, Mauritti, Martins, Casanovaand Almeida, 2003).

Besides the research mentioned above, a broad array ofinvestigations and the associated analyses were developed withinPortuguese sociology on the theme of young students in general andthose in higher education in particular. Among the different contributionsof importance, it is possible to mention certain research lines thatconstitute the field of sociological analysis in question. At a more generallevel, a series of researches on youth, school and cultural practices are tobe noted, such as Lopes (1997 e 2003); Fernandes, Esteves, Dias, Lopes,Mendes and Azevedo (1998); Silva (1999) and Abrantes (2003). Withregard to the topic of higher education students, the analytical advancespresent in longer term projects should be noted, e.g. work that examinesthe data gathered from the institutional surveys of school enrolments,carried out for a number of years by the Ministry of Education (Cruz,Cruzeiro, Leandro, Matias and Nunes, 1995a, 1995b); the work based ona national survey with the central topic of social action in schools (Balsa,Simes, Nunes, Carmo and Campos, 2001); and, thirdly, the workproduced under the observation system for the path of higher educationgraduates to employment. The latter work was an INOFOR (Institute for

1 See Adelino Gomes (2005) for the analysis of the emergence of studies coveringuniversity graduating youth studies in Portugal.

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Innovation in Training) initiative and also involved the application of aPathway Survey, carried out in 2001. This line of research also containsspecific analytical studies, complemented with the use of their owninstruments, e.g. the studies centred on academic trajectories andgraduate employment processes in the Lisbon region (Alves, 2001 and2005; Alves, 2003) and Oporto (Gonalves, Parente and Veloso, 2001).There are other more localized studies, e.g. Arroteia and Martins (1998)at Aveiro University; Fernandes (org.), Rodrigues, Albergaria, Pereira,Lopes and Teixeira (2001) at Oporto University; and Estanque and Nunes(2002 and 2003) at Coimbra University.

With regard to CIES research, at present an international project is

being carried out in the field of higher education students socio-economic conditions -- the EUROSTUDENT Survey -- of which the initialresults are Martins, Mauritti and Costa (2005) and HIS (2005). Thoughthis kind of international perspective has little visibility for the moment, itis decisive both from the point of view of the enrichment of analysisissues and perspectives and the possibility of comparing the generallyshared aspects and dynamics and the unique features of the situationsencountered among higher education students in different Europeancountries. This perspective is all the more important in the strong contextof the Europeanization of educational policies applying to this level ofteaching.

Access to higher education in Portugal: trends and patterns

Access and certification

In the last 30 years, access to higher education has undergone a distinctopening up process. It was in the 1980s that the direction of this growthgave the clearest signs that, at a level of political perspectives and socialexpectations, this was a one-way process with repercussions for theimprovement of educational levels in Portuguese society. Though over anextended time-span the increase is seen to be continuous, it has beendifficult to narrow the gap with Europe, given the recent slowdown in this

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growth and, especially, the enormous lag in the countrys qualificationsstructure at the time of the change to democracy.

Thus, from an initial reading of the trends described in figure 1, it isimportant to underscore the highly significant rise in the number ofstudents entering higher education in Portugal. In a period of slightlymore than a decade (1991-2002), the overall total of young peopleattending this educational level rose from around 190,000 students tonearly 400,000. On the basis of the same time-span, almost 67,000young people on average have enrolled for the first time in the first yearof bachelor and graduation degree courses. On average, over 50,000graduates have been produced per year (ISCED 5A and 5B).

Figure 1 Students in higher education and graduates, by gender, 1991-2002(absolute values)

0,00

50,00

100,00

150,00

200,00

250,00

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Higher education pop.(Male)

Higher education pop.(Female)

Enrolled 1st time/1st yr(Male)

Graduates (Male) Graduates(Female)

Enrolled 1st time/1st yr(Female)(F)

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Sources: First-year students enrolling for the first time: 1990-1996, DGES/MCIES; 1997-2002,

OCES/MCIES. Pop. in higher education and graduates from the system: INE,

http://www.ine.pt/PI/genero/Principal.aspx (04-01-2005).

One of the indicators to be noted in figure 1 is the predominance ofyoung women. They form a clear majority in the total enrolment, as wellas in the sub-set of those enrolling for the first time in courses at the firstcycle of higher education (accounting for 57% in the two indicators).Moreover, as the annual flows of new graduates show, young women aremore likely to complete their higher studies than young men (almost two

thirds of those graduating are women).Yet, if these are the overall higher educational trends, it is stillimportant to note that, especially since 1998, there seems to have beena slow-down in the expansion in number of students enrolled andgraduates produced each year. For example, the average annual growthrate in total enrolments fell from 11% in the first half of the decade to nomore than 3% per year between 1998 and 2002. What factors can beholding this growth back, when in spite of the great expansion in highereducation (particularly in the 1980s) Portugal is still far from theproportion of graduates that minimally reflects the average EuropeanUnion standard?

Without our entering into a great discussion of the issue, thefollowing broad reasons are to be noted here: i) perhaps the most

prominent: the fall in the number of 12th grade pupils as a combinedresult of the lower birth-rate and the accentuated early-leaving rates inthe secondary system; ii) increasing graduate unemployment --especially in the fields of education, humanities, social science andbusiness management; iii) as a corollary of the latter, the current opinionin the media and certain public debates on educational policies thatthere are too many graduates in Portuguese society at present; andfinally, iv) as a reaction to the latter two factors, a possible absence ofinvestment or incentives on the part of families, especially those withfewer resources, who no longer see a degree certificate as a guaranteeof future career success for their children -- a factor that is proportionallymore relevant when the families are the main support for studies at thislevel (Martins, Mauritti and Costa, 2005).

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Various research report the value of a higher education diploma onthe labour market, whether from the adaptability and employabilitystandpoint or at the level of the return on investment in education (see,for example, Costa, Mauritti, Martins, Machado and Almeida, 2000;Portugal, 2004). Nevertheless, the factors mentioned above, oftenpresented deceptively, can help to maintain and intensify the socialdivisions in the relative probabilities of access to higher education ingeneral and to certain so-called more elitist qualifications in particular(Mauritti, 2002: 88-96).

Social origins

One of the central issues in studies on higher education students is thecharacterization of their social origins as a dimensional axis ofdifferentiation in this segment. Some of the original studies on therelationship between school and social inequalities already voiced thisconcern (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1964, 1970; Boudon, 1973; Coleman atal, 1966; Bernstein, 1975).

Portuguese sociological production in this area has also beenintense and allows us, today, to have secure analyses regarding therelationship between higher educational options and the characterizationof social origins.2 An analysis of class origins is, thus, one of the maindimensions of this characterization, integrating socio-professional andsocio-educational indicators in a co-ordinated manner.3 This is seen to befundamental as it is considered that, for the students educationalcareers, the characterization of their households of origin has aninfluence on the probability of higher education access and, also, thetype of qualification achieved.

From the indicators in table 1 we can see that 58% of highereducation students come from the social categories with the most social,cultural and economic capital at their disposal -- the entrepreneurs andexecutives and the professionals and managers. However, it is not

2 See the references indicated above.3 On the subject of the clarification, importance and operationalization of theseindicators, see Machado, vila and Costa, (1995); Costa (1999); Almeida, vila,Casanova, Costa, Machado, Martins and Mauritti (2003); Machado, Costa,Mauritti, Casanova, and Almeida (2003).

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possible to assess these two categories as equal, as there is a strongprevalence of social origins among the professionals and managers(40%). The latter, moreover, are the greatest holders of qualificationsthat can be reflected in the educational careers of their children. Thesestudents represent a very strong dynamic of social reproduction,exceeding a third of the universe as a whole. In comparison with thePortuguese population, this category seems over-represented (with morethan double the percentage value), revealing a higher education systemwith a narrow social recruitment base. The greater presence of studentsfrom this category may indicate two things. The first is a powerfulreproductive effect in which the students educational careers coincide

with the preceding generation, demonstrating that a familys morefavourable position in the social structure influences access chances. Thesecond, simultaneously, is the expansion of this category in Portuguesesociety (also affecting the parents age-group), which also raises theprobability of the parents being noted as the social origin of the youngergeneration in higher education. This trend is reinforced in the broaderEuropean context (Costa, Machado, Mauritti, Martins, Almeida, 2000;Mauritti, Martins and Costa, 2004).

If, on the one hand, the presence of these origins demonstratesstrong social reproduction, on the other, it does not mean the othercategories are insignificant, in particular those with the fewest resources(Table 1). It is, therefore, a question of a double recruitment pattern inwhich, along with logics of social reproduction mentioned above, socialmobility processes are launched into the space of higher education (seeAlmeida, Costa and Machado, 1988; Machado, Costa, Mauritti, Martins,Casanova and Almeida, 2003).

Table 1 also provides the class recruitment index.4 If we focus on therelationship between those higher education students with professionaland manager origins and those with industrial worker origins, the ratio is8:1. If that demonstrates a highly selective system, it is also the greatestdifference encountered. Even the entrepreneurs and executives -- thetop category of the social structure, though with a dominant profile that

4 For more details of the operating and conceptual procedures followed in thisindex, see Almeida, Costa and Machado (1988: 142-143); Machado, vila andCosta (1995: 112); Costa (1999: 235-245); Machado, Costa, Mauritti, Martins,Casanova, Almeida (2003: 49-60).

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is not very highly qualified -- send as many students as the self-employedand twice as many as employees. Regarding difference by gender, thesocial recruitment index is slightly more broadly based for femalestudents than for their masculine counterparts.Although the students parents social structure distinctly ignores thedistribution of the class situations of the Portuguese population in theage-group to which they predominantly belong, the presence of othersocial categories, tracing rising trajectories via qualifications, reveals aneducation system expanding to other social strata, with signs ofdevelopment since the decade of the change to democracy (Machadoand Costa, 1998; Sebastio, 1998; Almeida, Capucha, Costa, Machado

and Torres, 2000). The category with the closest relative proportions inthe two distributions, students parents and the population, is that ofentrepreneurs and executives and the self-employed. In the salariedcategories with fewest occupational resources and qualifications it isamong the industrial workers that a greater difference in the ability toput their children through higher education can be noted and it is amongthe employees that a greater probability of doing so is to be seen(though with a gap of 10% between them and the reference age-group inthe Portuguese population).

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Table 1 Social class origins of higher education students, comparison with thePortuguese population (%) and class recruitment index

Social class

Household of origin

Portuguese

population

in

2001

(aged45-5

4)

CRIPublic educationPrivate education

TotalUniversity Polytechnic

MF M F MF M F MF M F HM H M

Household of origin (7

categories)

Entrepreneurs and executives 14.0 13.7 14.4 17.2 21.3 14.4 23.4 18.9 25.1 17.6 _ _ _ _

Professionals and managers 46.6 51.2 42.4 26.9 30.7 24.2 44.5 51.9 41.6 40.4 _ _ _ _

Self-employed 5.2 4.0 6.3 7.9 8.0 7.5 5.0 4.3 5.1 5.9 _ _ _ _

Multi-active self-employed 5.4 4.5 6.3 6.7 3.1 9.4 3.8 3.9 3.9 5.3 _ _ _ _

Employees 12.3 12.0 12.1 12.5 11.1 13.6 9.6 9.4 9.7 11.6 _ _ _ _

Industrial workers 7.8 7.3 8.4 15.4 14.2 16.3 5.9 6.4 5.8 9.4 _ _ _ _

Multi-active employees 8.7 7.3 10.1 13.4 11.6 14.6 7.8 5.2 8.8 9.8 _ _ _ _

Household of origin (5

categories)

Entrepreneurs and executives 14.0 13.7 14.4 17.2 21.3 14.4 23.4 18.9 25.1 17.6 14.7 4 4 4

Professionals and managers 46.6 51.2 42.4 26.9 30.7 24.2 44.5 51.9 41.6 40.4 16.2 8 9 7

Self-employed 10.6 8.5 12.6 14.6 11.1 16.9 8.8 8.2 9.0 11.2 8.7 4 3 5

Employees 21.0 19.3 22.2 25.9 22.7 28.2 17.4 14.6 18.5 21.4 32.4 2 2 2

Industrial workers 7.8 7.3 8.4 15.4 14.2 16.3 5.9 6.4 5.8 9.4 28.0 1 1 1

Sources: Martins, Mauritti and Costa, 2005; INE, Censos 2001.

With regard to differences in the higher education sub-systems,access is narrowest in the public universities, whereas the recruitmentbase is most differentiated in the polytechnics (confirming other studiessuch as those of Balsa, Simes, Nunes, Carmo and Campos, 2001). Thesocio-occupational structure of student origins in the private subsystem

is very similar to that of the public universities, though in the private

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segment there is a notable enlargement in the entrepreneur andexecutive category. The latter class situation (without the inclusion ofliberal professionals) displays profiles that differ greatly from thePortuguese reality and often reveal greater economic than culturalcapital. Finally, the wider social recruitment for polytechnic educationmay have a double, perhaps conflicting, interpretation, reflecting notonly a more democratic image of access to higher education but also,within it, the persistence of socially selective processes that placestudents in different types of education, with their concomitantopportunities.

The part that women are playing in higher education as a whole

confirms earlier research (Grcio, 1997; Machado and Costa, 1998;Almeida, Capucha, Costa, Machado and Torres, 2000). In all subsystems,they broaden the social base, revealing their dynamism in educationalprocesses (tables 1 and 2). Their secondary school careers with greatersuccess and broader generalization (Censos, 2001), combined withincreased participation rates in higher studies, indicate more secureeducational trajectories for female students.

From a complementary perspective, an analysis of the socio-educational indicators, also related to the students household of origin,very much coincides with that of the class situations (table 2).Inequalities in qualification resources are greatly reflected in differencesin access to higher education. The fact that there are four times thenumber of parents with a higher education in relation to the referenceage-group in Portuguese society identifies cultural capital as decisive ineducational careers. It is well known that highly qualified households oforigin are over-represented and the weight of parents with the first cycleof basic education or less is reduced to almost a third in relation to thepopulation at large.

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Table 2 Socio-educational origins of higher education students (%), comparison with the

Portuguese population (%) and school recruitment index

Educational background

Household of origin

Portuguese

population

SRIPublic education Private education Total

University Polytechnic

MF M F MF M F MF M F Aged 45-54 MF M F

Higher Education 40.8 45.7 36.7 20.4 24.2 17.5 43.4 49.0 41.2 35.7 9.8 10 13 9

Upper Secondary 16.2 17.7 14.3 16.6 17.4 16.1 16.5 17.0 16.4 16.4 8.9 5 6 5

Basic Cycle 3 (lower

secondary)13.0 11.9 14.2 13.0 12.5 13.2 12.9 10.9 13.9 13.0 10.0 4 4 4

Basic Cycle 2 11.4 8.5 13.9 17.9 17.1 18.8 10.1 7.0 11.0 12.9 8.8 4 4 4

Up to Cycle 1 18.6 16.2 20.9 32.1 28.8 34.4 17.1 16.1 17.5 22.0 62.5 1 1 1

Sources: Martins, Mauritti and Costa, 2005; INE, Censos 2001.

The educational recruitment index shows a large dichotomybetween those whose parents have a higher education and the others.The ratio between the former and households of origin with at least oneparent educated to secondary level is 2:1 -- and even greater for theother households.

However, admission to higher education, too, abides by internalselective processes. This aspect is at the root of the unequal nature ofthe various higher education subsystems. From this point of view, as canbe seen in table 2, state polytechnic education is more open in its socialrecruitment than the other subsystems, as far as the characterization ofhouseholds is concerned. This is in spite of the fact that around a fifth ofthese students parents have a higher education, which thereforeindicates that the mesh of the net is still too fine to allow an intake thatreflects the socio-educational structure of the society. The sub-systemsin which selectivity is most pronounced are private higher education andpublic universities (with 43% and 41% of parents, respectively, theproduct of a higher education). The higher patterns for private educationmay, however, be due to the inclusion of the Catholic University in thesample, since, if students pursuing qualifications in this institution are

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removed from the analysis, the education of the households of origin isthe same as in the state universities.

A comparative view on a European scale

As we stressed above, in recent years Portugal has witnessed a markedexpansion in education at the higher levels. The processes of socialrecomposition involved in such dynamics, either in relation to thebreadth of the social universes included or to the cultural empowermentand life-style changes, still incorporate a certain social selectivity or even

new social exclusions, as has been seen. We still cannot tell if thisexpansion in higher education will, even so, be enough to underpin thepositive inclusion of Portugal in the modernization processes that aremoving through present-day societies. This is particularly so in a Europedriven by the goals of competitiveness, sustainable economic growth andsocial cohesion, goals that are explicitly fuelled by a recognition of thekey role of knowledge and information.

Thus, table 3 resumes the analysis of socio-educationalrecompositions, on this European scale. We an begin by examining therates of participation in the educational system by the youngest age-groups in the population. The data relates to the five-year periodimmediately prior to the recent enlargement of the EU.

In this table, looking first at the EU15 group of countries, we can seethat, for the 15-19 age-group, European participation in the educationsystem is around 85%, falling significantly among the higher age-groups(just over 40% for the 20-24 year-old group and about 15% for the 2529age-group). The strong female representation is conspicuous in allcountries, particularly for the ages corresponding to the normalsecondary and higher education cycles (up to the age of 24), with thewomen systematically recording participation rates that are higher thanor at least equivalent to those of their male counterparts.

But if this is a pattern that cuts across the various contexts, certaindifferences between countries still show up in their young peoplesparticipation rates in the educational system, especially that of the age-group that normally precedes entry to higher education. With compulsory

schooling up to the 9th grade (3rd basic-education cycle or ISCED 2)

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Portugal appears at the lowest threshold of this indicator. Its relativeresults were very close to Italys in 1998 but, as it essentially maintainedthe same pattern in 2002 (in contrast to Italy), the gap between it and itsEuropean partners worsened, even in relation to the new Member States.Slovakia, for example, starts from a slightly lower position and reaches2002 with five more percentage points.

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Table 3 Young people in the education system and graduates, by age-groupand gender, 1998-2002 (%)

Countries Sex

Participation in the education system1 Graduates 20022

1998 2002

Upper

Seconda

ry

Higher

Education

15-19 20-24 25-29 15-19 20-24 25-29 25-34 25-34 25-64

EU15

AustriaMF - - - 81.5 29.4 10.3 67.8 17.4 16.9

M - - - 82.2 32.1 9.6 63.3 18.5 15.4

BelgiumMF 85.3 40.6 9.3 89.6 38.2 5.8 39.8 36.3 27.9

M 86.4 42.3 8.4 91.2 40.3 6.4 38.1 41.0 28.5

Denmark

MF 90.3 55.0 34.5 88.7 55.3 35.0 54.6 30.6 27.4

M 91.6 55.4 35.7 88.5 58.3 37.9 50.4 35.7 29.9

FinlandMF 86.1 47.8 24.0 80.4 56.1 26.7 49.4 38.2 32.4

M 89.8 52.7 24.9 85.8 61.3 27.7 44.5 46.6 36.0

FranceMF 95.6 53.5 11.4 94.6 53.2 11.7 43.3 35.2 23.5

M 96.5 55.2 11.9 95.6 56.6 12.8 41.1 38.0 24.3

GermanyMF 91.6 36.3 13.9 90.1 38.1 16.3 63.9 21.0 22.3

M 92.1 38.0 10.6 90.5 40.1 13.2 63.4 19.8 17.8

GreeceMF 80.5 29.3 4.4 86.8 36.3 6.1 50.8 23.4 17.6

M 80.7 30.2 4.4 87.6 38.1 6.1 51.2 26.5 16.5

IrelandMF - - - 81.6 29.0 3.5 52.9 30.7 20.8

M - - - 86.3 31.9 3.1 50.4 37.1 26.5

ItalyMF 75.4 35.8 16.5 80.8 38.2 15.6 47.3 12.4 10.4

M 77.6 39.8 16.5 83.1 42.2 16.3 48.2 14.1 10.2

LuxemburgMF 88.6 40.4 11.9 91.3 47.8 13.9 45.8 22.6 18.6

M 89.7 36.3 11.1 91.1 47.5 13.9 47.5 21.7 15.6

NetherlandsMF 89.7 50.5 24.4 80.7 35.3 6.2 49.3 28.0 24.9

M 88.4 47.7 19.7 81.6 35.2 5.2 49.3 29.7 22.3

PortugalMF 71.6 32.4 9.5 72.4 34.7 10.7 21.2 16.1 11.4

M 74.1 36.4 8.7 77.6 38.3 11.4 22.2 20.3 12.8

SpainMF 80.2 44.3 15.3 81.9 43.4 16.1 22.3 36.6 24.4

M 84.7 49.6 16.8 85.5 48.4 17.6 22.5 40.2 23.9

SwedenMF 90.9 42.6 24.9 88.4 41.7 22.4 60.8 30.7 26.4

M 92.6 47.0 27.8 89.4 46.4 24.3 57.7 34.2 30.0

U. KingdomMF - - - 75.3 31.0 13.3 56.1 33.5 29.4

M - - - 77.3 34.4 17.1 55.4 33.6 28.6

NewEUMemberStates

CypriusMF - - - - - - 44.2 41.0 29.1

M - - - - - - 43.2 42.9 27.3

Czech

Republic

MF 77.1 17.1 1.8 88.3 25.7 2.9 81.9 11.9 11.8

M 79.1 16.8 1.7 89.2 26.6 2.8 82.0 11.5 10.0

Estonia MF - - - - - - 61.9 27.6 29.6

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M - - - - - - 58.0 35.6 35.3

HungaryMF 78.2 26.5 7.4 87.5 37.7 10.6 67.0 14.4 14.1

M 78.9 27.9 7.8 88.2 38.7 10.9 64.7 16.3 14.5

LatviaMF - - - - - - 67.3 18.2 19.6

M - - - - - - 68.2 22.8 22.0

LithuaniaMF - - - - - - 46.7 41.5 44.0

M - - - - - - 43.6 49.0 50.9

PolandMF 91.0 30.8 5.7 95.9 53.8 14.9 74.1 16.1 12.2

M 92.5 31.4 5.0 96.8 56.1 14.7 71.3 19.4 13.7

SlovakiaMF 69.4 17.4 1.1 78.6 22.1 2.9 81.7 11.8 10.8

M 70.7 19.2 0.5 79.4 25.1 3.1 78.7 13.9 11.0

SloveniaMF - - - - - - 66.6 19.0 14.8

M - - - - - - 61.9 25.3 16.4

Sources: 1) OECD, Education at a Glance 2004; 2) Eurostat, Employment Survey, 2002; Ireland, 2001.

Portugal, Censos, 2001.

NB: Malta is not included as information relating to the indicators under analysis does not exist for that

country.

In the higher age-groups (20-24 and 25-29 years of age), thecountries with the lowest relative rates of participation in the educationsystem are Greece, at the beginning of the period under discussion,Ireland, Austria and the United Kingdom, in 2002, and, among the groupof new member states in particular, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.This is in spite of the fact that the enormous effort to raise the numbersof young people in the education system is most conspicuous in the EUs

new partners.But does this data show that our country thus presents a moreadvantageous educational model in these age-groups? Not necessarily. Itmay mean that, in these two age-groups, the rate of participation is quitelow in the countries mentioned above because part of the population ofthis age has already completed their studies or, possibly, even theirhigher education. The fact is that, here in Portugal, the repeat rates forthe 2nd and 3rd basic cycles and, in particular, the secondary cycle arestill rather high (ME, 2004). This means that, though still in the system,many young people may not be attending the level to be expected attheir age: higher education. This is corroborated in the study of thoserecently qualifying. We are going to discuss this aspect on the basis of areading of the weight that secondary and higher education

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certificate/degree-holders represent in the population of the variouscountries making up the European Union at present.

Let us stay with these two educational levels to report the differentdynamics -- in terms of the historical background, socio-cultural patternsand educational policies -- that mark the educational/qualifyingprocesses of the different countries populations. These can be seen inthe relative incidence of secondary or higher education in age-groups ofthe working-age population that, in principle, has finished its education(25-34 years of age). It is also observable, in the case of highereducation, in the proportion of graduates in this younger age-segmentand in the 25-64 age-group as a whole.

In fact, considering the weight of certificate/degree-holders at thetwo educational levels in the sub-group of the population aged between25 and 34, the differences between countries are enormous. For anaverage European pattern in which, in this group of ages, over 80% ofthe population has at least a secondary education (of whom an averageof a 1/4 have acquired a higher education qualification), we encounter ascale with countries like the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden at thetop (with 90% for the combined results) and Portugal, on its own, at thebottom (where the weight of certificate/degree-holders at the twoeducational levels does not exceed 40%).

Closer analysis of the distributions in the various countries revealssignificant distinctions, within this overall pattern, in their educationalprocesses. Some are highly oriented towards mass secondary schooling(as in the great majority of the new member-states and, also, countrieslike Austria, Germany and -- to a slightly more modest extent -- Greece,the Netherlands, Italy and Luxemburg). Others are more orientedtowards simultaneously qualifying their populations at a secondary andhigher level (as in Lithuania, Cyprus, Sweden, the United Kingdom,Finland, Denmark, France and Belgium). Spain has the distinction ofbeing the only EU country in the age-group in question in which therelative weight of higher education certificate-holders is greater than thatof secondary school certificate-holders. Finally, Portugals secondaryeducation patterns are close to its neighbours but there is a clear gapbetween them as far as graduates are concerned (table 3). In otherwords, among us, the clear educational deficit at the lower level is not

compensated by any increase in education/training at the higher level,

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thus betraying the fact that large sections of the younger people drop-out school prematurely or exit the system at an early stage.

Nowadays, higher education is the arena in which developmentpolicies and strategies for competitiveness are played out, with seriousimplications for national societies and, thus, the relationships betweenthem. If we focus our analytical perspective purely on this, the highestqualification level, it is countries like Lithuania (with an apparent loss inthe younger of the two age-groups), Cyprus, Finland, Spain and Belgiumthat stand out -- all with figures of between 35% and 45% for the 25-34age-group. If the first two countries represent the processes of openingup their societies, where the precise impact of such credentials is still not

known, the others take their high qualifications as one of the mostdecisive parameters for positioning themselves -- in the hierarchy ofcompetence, opportunities and even, broadly speaking, quality of life --within a European Union that is ever more demanding from a viewpointof strengthening the information and knowledge society.

In terms of the socio-educational reconfigurations, a comparison ofthe two age-groups considered reveals higher education processes thatare very different, though connected in a dynamic, mentioned above,that cuts across all contexts: the strong female performance. Amongthose contexts in which the re-composition of higher level qualificationsis most intense are Spain, France, Ireland and, for Eastern Europe,Cyprus (with increases of 10% or more in the difference between the twoage-groups). In this context, Ireland should be noted, as the caseregistering the most positive development, even if it is not unexpected inview of the weaker starting point in terms of qualifications. With regardto Portugal, one of the countries with the greatest deficit in qualificationsin the 25-64 age-group, it is not assuming a sufficiently robust growthdynamic in the European environment.

Against the background of globalization, these trends to upgrade thequalifications of the population leave Portugal in a highly unfavourableposition. This is the situation for 2002, but its roots lie in the past: in1986, when the country entered the Community, it already lagged too farbehind to catch up without a great effort (see Costa, Mauritti, Martins,Machado and Almeida, 2000). Now, twenty year later, we report limitedprogress towards European aims at this dawn of the century.

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