Parents' education influences chances of university degree - study

The children whose parents have university education may have several times higher chances of graduating from university in the Czech Republic compared to others, according to a study by the SYRI National Institute, it reported in a press release today. The stability of the family and the place of residence also influence the chances of achieving a university degree, and besides, the children whose parents are not divorced have higher chances in this respect, shows the analysis, based on a data set from 1,656 people born between 1975 and 1997, which examined how family conditions and childhood housing determine educational opportunities.

"Young people from the families where at least one parent obtained a university diploma were more than eight times as likely to achieve university education as their peers from the families where neither parent had it," said the study's author Josef Bernard from the SYRI National Institute.

"People who grew up in the families with fewer than 20 books were six times less likely to graduate from university (or college) than those who had more than 200 books in the home," Bernard said.

The stability of the family background is also important, he noted. People who grew up in the families with their biological parents were about twice as likely as others to achieve a university degree. Moreover, women are more than twice as likely to graduate from university as men, the study has found.

The place of residence also has an impact, according to the study. Growing up in a more educated location increases the chances of gaining a university degree. "One possible explanation is the 'neighborhood effect' - a regular exposure to people with higher education may increase the educational aspirations of children and parents. Moreover, the educational level of the place of residence is reflected in the social composition of the classmates with whom children go to school," Bernard pointed out.

Higher education level is typical of large cities, which offer a greater choice of schools and an easier access to universities, he said. But the data suggest that growing up in the areas with more stable families and lower divorce rates also raises the chance of university studies. This is often the case in rural areas and the southeastern part of the country.

On the contrary, unemployment and poverty rates in the locality where one lives do not pose a direct barrier to attaining a university education, according to the study. If residents of the localities with increased unemployment rate grow up in the families with normal family resources, their chances of completing university studies are not lowered, the study says.