Segregación Socioeconómica en la Educación Superior : evidencia para Chile

Abstract

Este trabajo estudia la segregaci on socioecon omica en la educaci on superior de Chile entre los a~nos 2009 y 2017, buscando responder cuatro preguntas por medio del uso de ndices de segregaci on. Primero, se analiza la magnitud de este fen omeno y c omo evolucion o en estos ultimos ocho a~nos de importantes pol ticas dirigidas a mejorar la inclusi on de estudiantes m as vulnerables. Segundo, la segregaci on se descompone en aquella que ocurre entre tipos de instituci on, entre instituciones dentro de cada tipo y entre carreras dentro de cada instituci on. Tercero, se comparan estos resultados con la segregaci on que los mismos estudiantes vivieron en la educaci on secundaria. Por ultimo, se estima cu anto de los resultados anteriores puede ser asociado a diferencias en el rendimiento acad emico. Se encuentran niveles de segregaci on moderados, salvo para los estudiantes de mayor nivel socioecon omico, quienes se mantienen igual de segregados a lo largo del periodo de tiempo analizado. Asimismo, es la distribuci on que ocurre dentro de las universidades la que parece impulsar los resultados globales, siendo la instituci on la unidad sobre la cual se concentran los estudiantes de mayor nivel socioecon omico y la carrera la que desempe~na esta funci on para los estudiantes vulnerables. Al contrastar con la educaci on secundaria, se tiene que la segregaci on socioecon omica en la educaci on superior es relativamente reducida, adquiriendo mayor relevancia el rendimiento acad emico en la distribuci on de estudiantes. De todos modos, esta ultima variable no permite explicar la magnitud ni la inercia de la segregaci on de los estudiantes de mayor NSE, por lo que son otros los mecanismos que la explicar an en mayor medida.

This paper studies socioeconomic segregation in chilean higher education between 2009 and 2017, seeking to answer four questions through the use of segregation indexes. First, the magnitude of this phenomenon is analyzed and how it has evolved in these eight years of important policies aimed at improving the inclusion of vulnerable students. Second, it breaks down into how much occurs between types of institutions, between institutions within each type and between careers within each institution. Third, these results are compared with the segregation that the same students lived in secondary education. Finally, it is estimated how much of the previous results can be associated with di erences in academic performance. Low levels of segregation are found, except for the students of higher socioeconomic status (SES), whose indexes remains practically unchanged in the period of time analyzed. In addition, it is the distribution that takes place within the universities what seems to boost the general results, being the institution the unit in which the high-SES students are concentrated and the career being the one that performs this function for the vulnerable students. When contrasting with secondary education, socioeconomic segregation in higher education is relatively small, with academic performance becoming more important in how students are distributed. However, this last variable doesn't seems to explain the magnitud or the inertia in high-SES students segregation. Thus, there are other mechanisms that could better explain these results.