Browsing by Author "Quaresma, María Luisa"

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    Elite universities in Chile: Between social mobility and reproduction of inequality
    (2022) Quaresma, María Luisa; Villalobos, Cristóbal
    The Chilean Higher Education System can be considered an exemplary case of massification based on the privatisation and heterogenisation of universities. These processes have created a dual system, with a large group of universities for mass education versus a small group of universities focused on educating elites. In this context, this paper aims to analyse the ethos and missions of elite universities and programmes, their selection mechanisms, and students’ socioeconomic and cultural background. Eight case studies were selected, and different data collection techniques were used: interviews with academics, non-participant observations, students’ survey and secondary data analysis. Results show that these elite universities (characterised by overrepresentation of students from the upper and middle-upper classes, high levels of excellence and prestige, and academic selection processes or high fees) respond to their own market niche’s needs, differentiating themselves not only from ‘mass universities’ but also from each other. To achieve this, each elite university has its own vision, set of values and practices. Despite these differences, all the elite universities and programmes seek to face the current tertiary massification scenario by opening up to student social diversity ensuring, however, that these changes do not structurally modify their sociocultural composition or their institutional mission.
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    Interviewing elites in the educational field
    (Oxford, 2019) Villalobos Dintrans, Cristobal Alejandro; Quaresma, María Luisa; Universidad Autónoma de Chile
    Elites can be understood as a group of people in possession of the highest levels of economic, social, cultural, and political capital. For this reason, these groups are considered key actors in understanding social inequality, the configuration of social structures, and the distribution of power within societies. In the field of education, elites tend to concentrate in a small, select group of schools and universities, forming a social context that is key to understanding processes of (social) mobility and the reproduction of social positions. The indisputable relevance of education in both the formation and consecration of elites make it almost impossible not to focus in the educational system when one is called to problematize the power of elites. Through a literature review surveying the available literature within the field as well as examples of previous research, principle epistemological, conceptual, and empirical frameworks necessary to address interviews with elites in the educational sphere can be observed. The chapter review three critical dimensions of the interview process: (a) design, analyzing aspects such as the potentialities and limitations of the different types of interviews, the issue of validity and, the question about the distance between interviewer and interviewee (b) contact and consent to participate, studding the identification, contact and pre-meeting stage and (c) the interview process, analyzing aspects such as the place of the interview, the cultural aspects involved in any interview, the objective and purpose of the interview, the knowledge and skills that the interviewer must display, and the dispute over the power and status that is displayed in this type of interaction. Researchers who study education and/or elite social classes and who want to deepen their understanding of a group of people might refer to this qualitative research process of studying elites in the educational field.
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    Mapeando a la élite en las universidades chilenas : un análisis cuantitativo-multidimensional
    (2020) Villalobos D., Cristóbal; Quaresma, María Luisa; Franetovic, G.
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    Percepciones Sociales de los Estudiantes de Educación Superior de Élite: un estudio del caso Chileno
    (2022) Villalobos Dintrans, Cristóbal Alejandro; Kuzmanic, Danilo; Valenzuela, Juan Pablo; Quaresma, María Luisa
    Se estudian las percepciones sobre el ingreso a la universidad, el esfuerzo, la meritocracia y las desigualdades sociales en los estudiantes de 8 instituciones de educación superior de élite en Chile. Usando las 1.773 respuestas de un cuestionario aplicado a una muestra estratificada de estudiantes de estas instituciones, se estiman modelos de regresión que controlan las diferencias entre grupos socioeconómicos, tipos de universidad y tiempo de estadía en la institución. Los resultados muestran que es el tipo de universidad el principal eje de diferenciación en estas percepciones, siendo los estudiantes de universidades tradicionales más escépticos de la meritocracia y las explicaciones individualistas que sus pares de universidades privadas emergentes. Además, existe una relativa homogeneidad dentro de cada tipo de universidad, salvo en aquellos ítems relacionados con el ingreso a la universidad. A raíz de esto se concluye que los diferentes tipos de instituciones de élite son una distinción relevante para comprender la diversidad de percepciones que existe entre los que transitan por estos espacios de significativa influencia a nivel nacional.
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    Socioeconomic Segregation in Higher Education: Evidence for Chile (2009–2017)
    (2023) Kuzmanic Vidal, Danilo Martin; Valenzuela, Juan Pablo; Villalobos, Cristóbal; Quaresma, María Luisa
    This paper was the first to analyze the magnitude, temporal evolution, and decomposition of socioeconomic segregation in Chilean higher education, over the period 2009 to 2017, in which relevant policies aimed at strengthening inclusion and equity in the system were introduced. Two segregation indices, the dissimilarity index and the square root index, are used to meet these objectives. The results show high and persistent segregation for high socioeconomic status students, in contrast to the moderate and decreasing segregation levels seen in the low and middle socioeconomic groups. Besides, the decomposition exercise posits the universities as the focus of segregation in this system, where both the institution and the degree program constitute relevant factors in understanding the unequal distribution of high socioeconomic status students. These results invite an in-depth look at the mechanisms that hinder social integration in this area, with a particular emphasis on the segregation of the highest socioeconomic status students, whose place in this system promotes their academic and social differentiation.