Social Stratification and Inequality in Access to Higher Education

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Social Sciences will bring together the latest social scientific thinking and evidence on the relationship between social stratification and inequality in access to, and the benefits from, higher education.

High participation systems of higher education are becoming the norm worldwide, and yet access to higher education remains significantly stratified by social background. Those from disadvantaged social backgrounds continue to be much less likely to enter higher education, especially the most prestigious institutions and fields of study; they are less likely to successfully complete their studies when they do enrol; and they can be less certain of reaping the promised returns to a degree on the labour market once they graduate.

The Special Issue will bring together a collection of high-quality papers, authored by sociologists and economists of higher education at a range of career points. The issue aims to include conceptual pieces, as well as theoretically informed empirical work focused on social inequality in relation to one or more high participation systems. The papers will present new critical insights into the relationship between social stratification and inequality in access to higher education and offer new perspectives on what is to be done about it.

Prof. Vikki Boliver
Prof. Simon Marginson
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.