An Analysis of the Mediating Role of Higher Education Stratification on the Reproduction of Social Inequality in the Labor Market

Nowadays entering a university is known as the most important way by which individuals could place themselves in a higher social position. Thus, who can enjoy these situations and how the higher education chances are divided among people can be studied as an index of education justice which is an important issue of social justice. One of the major findings of social stratification research is that there is a significantly positive association between the social origin and status attainment in modern societies and that this is mostly mediated by the educational attainment. According to a vast competition for entering a university, this issue is not thought seriously among students. Large expenses of classes, educational books and pamphlets, specialized courses and educational counseling along with various facilities, the ability of upper class strata in registering their children in high quality and nonprofit schools, the capability of these strata in employing private teachers and some other issues have influenced the individual position in the stratification of higher education as well. It has also been observed that privileged families, even after their children’s graduation, help them find suitable careers and positions through their own social capital. If the intensity of this issue is high in a society, it can have negative individual and social outcomes. Therefore, in this study, the authors have examined the issue of whether a higher education degree represents a kind of liberation from social background or, on the contrary, whether the resources associated with social origin have impacts both on the type of people’s education and even having a relevant position after the graduation.

The research method was a quantitative and survey type and the data were collected through a questionnaire. The population of this study included all educated employees who have graduated from universities across the country since 2006 and are working in various sectors of the labor market in Isfahan. The sample size was 530 individuals according to the assumptions of the confidence level, test power, and the number of variables involved in the analysis using Sample Power SPSS. According to the dispersion of participants of this study, the sampling method was in such a way that different economic parts were determined. Then, various economic centers were randomly selected, and by going to these centers, the graduates of the universities were randomly sampled.

The results of the research showed that there is a relationship between the individual status in the higher education system, and those who possessed a higher status in the higher education system have a higher position. It might imply that the education system, as functionalists claim, leads to meritocracy which prepares worthy people for careers and special roles in a society. But, another result of this study makes us think and review more the viewpoints of functionalists. It showed that there is a direct and positive relationship between social capital and individual position in the higher education system (i.e. those who possess a higher social capital have a better position in the higher education system as well). However, in the structural equation modelling phase, the direct and indirect effects of social capital on career position were not significant, but the role of social capital in finding careers has been very effective. About 37.3 percent of the respondents have claimed that they have been informed of the careers through official channels including advertisements, employment offices, or scholarships and then they have proceeded. While 62.7 percent of respondents have been informed through informal channels (i.e. families, friends and relatives) and then they have proceeded. This is of high importance in such conditions that the country has faced vast unemployment of university graduates. Considering the spread of higher education centers in the country, due to the limitation in accepting in special fields and special universities, the competition between participants in Konkoor (national university entrance exam) is high. This causes families to invest a large amount of financial resources on the success of their children. Thus, poor families show less risky capacity for investment in education of their children, so the children of wealthy families in competing with children of families with lower levels of income have more chances in ascending this phase. In this study, those families with higher economic capital have possessed a better status in the higher education system and a higher career position as well, which the entire effect of economic capital on career position is performed through the mediation of individual position in the higher education system. This finding is in the direction of theoretical foundations associated with the reproduction of social inequalities through education.According to Bourdieu theory, the children of the average class families are possibly more successful in getting educational certificates because of having cultural capital. In his mind, the presupposition of the education system is founded in the principle that cultural capital is at the disposal of the education system and the distribution of cultural capital is performed by such a system while only a small number of students obtain cultural capital; therefore, it is evident that there is much malfunctioning in education transferring. The findings of the study in the direction of theoretical principles showed that those who possess a higher cultural capital have a better position in the higher education system and a higher career position as well.The results of this study also indicated that the social background, whether directly or indirectly, affects the career position, and social inequalities are reproduced through the education system. So, the meritocracy society which Durkhiem expected has not been accomplished in such a society in which the role of heredity in careers is reduced and inequality is not the result of external forces, but it reflects the difference in individual competencies, capacities, and individual efforts in giving service to the society.