Differentials in Inequality of Access to Higher Education in European Countries: Triangulation of Findings from EUROSTUDENT and Other Comparative Surveys

The focus of this paper has been on examining country difference in level of inequality in access to higher education. I have argued that the conclusions drawn from much mobility research is of limited value for policy makers because of its concentration on cohort studies which renders this research primarily historical. Because of the need to focus on current and recent enrolments and because of the added value which arises from comparative analysis I have been impressed with the potential of the on-going series of Eurostudent studies. Furthermore because of the intractable measurement problems of measuring comparative intergenerational inequalities I have felt that we need to move beyond one-off studies and to seek to validate our conclusions from different studies.