Exploring Intergenerational Educational Mobility in Romania Based on the Intentions of Enrolling in Higher Education Among Upper Secondary Education Students
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Abstract
While education is one of the most important determinants of social position, it remains largely influenced by parental education. Considering the key role of education in the socioeconomic attainment process, this paper explores patterns of intergenerational educational mobility in Romania. Analysing survey data collected from a sample of upper secondary education students regarding their intentions of enrolling in higher education, we highlight the influence of background factors and educational trajectories on the chances to display upward or downward educational mobility. The obtained results show the important role played by the selection of students in general and vocational tracks for their prospects of educational mobility. Our findings are relevant to inform education policy aiming to increase overall educational attainment, while reducing educational inequalities.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
Zamfir, A.-M., Mocanu, C., Molea, R. M., & Năstasă, A. (2025). Exploring Intergenerational Educational Mobility in Romania Based on the Intentions of Enrolling in Higher Education Among Upper Secondary Education Students. Sociologie Românească, 23(1), 55-76. https://doi.org/10.33788/sr.23.1.3
References
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Borgerhoff Mulder, M., Towner, M. C., Baldini, R., Beheim, B. A., Bowles, S., Colleran, H., ... & Ziker, J. (2019). Differences between sons and daughters in the intergenerational transmission of wealth, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 374(1780), 20180076.
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Bourdieu, P. (1977). Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction, in J. Karabel & A. H. Halsey (Eds.), Power and Ideology in Education, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 487-510.
Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life. New York: Basic Books.
Breen, R., & Goldthorpe, J. H. (1997). Explaining Educational Differentials: Towards a Formal Rational Action Theory, Rationality and Society, 9(3), 275-305.
Chevalier, A., Denny, K., & McMahon, D. (2003). A multi-country study of inter-generational educational mobility (No. WP03/14). Centre for Economic Research Working Paper Series. Centre for Economic Research, University College Dublin.
Choudhary, A., & Singh, A. (2019). Do Indian daughters shadow their mothers? A case of intergenerational educational mobility among women, International Journal of Social Economics, 46(9), 1095-1118.
Chusseau, N., Hellier, J., & Ben-Halima, B. (2013). Education, intergenerational mobility and inequality, in Growing Income Inequalities: Economic Analyses. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 227-273.
Dahan, M., & Gaviria, A. (2001). Sibling correlations and intergenerational mobility in Latin America, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 49(3), 537-554.
Di Paolo, A., Raymond, J. L., & Calero, J. (2010). Exploring educational mobility in Europe (IEB Working Paper No. 2010/23). Institut d’Economia de Barcelona (IEB), University of Barcelona.
Eide, E. R., & Showalter, M. H. (2011). Estimating the relation between health and education: What do we know and what do we need to know? Economics of Education Review, 30(5), 778-791.
Fletcher, J., & Han, J. (2019). Intergenerational mobility in education: Variation in geography and time, Journal of Human Capital, 13(4), 585-634.
Hai, R., & Heckman, J. J. (2017). Inequality in human capital and endogenous credit constraints, Review of economic dynamics, 25, 4-36.
Hatos, A. (2012). Evoluţia inegalităţilor educaţionale în România: tranziţiile educaţionale ale celor născuţi până în 1985, Sociologie Românească, 10(01), 36-64.
Hatos, A. (2014). Serving the New Class: The Dynamics of Educational Transitions for Romanian Adults Born Before 1985 During Communism and Afterwards, Social indicators research, 119, 1699-1729.
Heineck, G., & Riphahn, R. T. (2009). Intergenerational transmission of educational attainment in Germany-the last five decades, Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, 229(1), 36-60.
Hertz, T., Jayasundera, T., Piraino, P., Selcuk, S., Smith, N., & Verashchagina, A. (2008). The inheritance of educational inequality: International comparisons and fifty-year trends, The BE Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 7(2).
Holm, A., Jæger, M. M., Karlson, K. B., & Reimer, D. (2013). Incomplete equalization: The effect of tracking in secondary education on educational inequality, Social science research, 42(6), 1431-1442.
Hossler D., & Gallagher K. (1987) Studying student college choice: a three-phase model and the implications for policymakers, Coll Univ, 62(3), 207-221.
Jacobs, B., & Van der Velden, R. (2021). Exploring the uncharted waters of educational mobility: The role of key skills. Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA), Maastricht University.
Kevane, M., and D. Levine (2003). Are Investments in Daughters Lower When Daughters Move Away? Economics Research Working Paper C03-127, Cambridge, MA: Center for International Development.
Korupp, S. E., Ganzeboom, H. B. G., & Van Der Lippe, T. (2002). Do mothers matter? A comparison of models of the influence of mothers’ and fathers’ educational and occupational status on children’s educational attainment, Quality & Quantity, 36(1), 17-42.
Kristoffersen, I. (2018). Great expectations: Education and subjective wellbeing, Journal of Economic Psychology, 66, 64-78.
Lee, H., & Lee, J. W. (2021). Patterns and determinants of intergenerational educational mobility: evidence across countries, Pacific Economic Review, 26(1), 70-90.
Lillard, L. A., & Willis, R. J. (1994). Intergenerational educational mobility: Effects of family and state in Malaysia, Journal of Human Resources, 1126-1166.
Lucas, S. R. (2001). Effectively Maintained Inequality: Education Transitions, Track Mobility, and Social Background Effects, American Journal of Sociology, 106(6), 1642-1690.
Machin, S., Marie, O., & Vujić, S. (2011). The crime reducing effect of education. The Economic Journal, 121(552), 463-484.
Mayer, A. K. (2011). Does education increase political participation? The Journal of Politics, 73(3), 633-645.
Neidhöfer, G., Serrano, J., & Gasparini, L. (2018). Educational inequality and intergenerational mobility in Latin America: A new database, Journal of development economics, 134, 329-349.
Nunn, A. (2012). Fostering social mobility as a contribution to social cohesion. Council of Europe. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
OECD (2024). Education at a Glance 2024: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD Publishing. Available at https://doi.org/10.1787/c00cad36-en. Accessed on March 15, 2025.
Papp Z, A., & Zsigmond, C. D. (2021). Educational mobility of Hungarian first- and multi-generational young intellectuals in four countries, Szociológiai Szemle, 31(3), 132-157.
Raaum, O., Salvanes, K. G., & Sørensen, E. Ø. (2006). The neighbourhood is not what it used to be, The Economic Journal, 116(508), 200-222.
Robayo-Abril, M., & Rude, B. (2023). Gender Dimensions in the Educational Sector in Romania (No. 40669). Washington, D.C.: The World Bank Group.
Roşu, M. (2016). Mobilitatea intergeneraţională ocupaţională şi educaţională în România. O analiză a cohortelor 1955-1966 şi 1977-1985, Anuarul Institutului de Istorie “George Barițiu” din Cluj-Napoca-Seria HUMANISTICA, 14(14), 25-52.
Rustichini, A., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2017). The contribution of skills and family background to educational mobility, The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 119(1), 148-177.
Siddiqui, L. A., & Shokeen, N. (2024). Women and Intergenerational Mobility in Education: A Micro-Level Study from Weavers’ Community of Varanasi, India, Social Indicators Research, 172(1), 219-237.
Solon, G., Page, M. E., & Duncan, G. J. (2000). Correlations between neighboring children in their subsequent educational attainment, Review of Economics and Statistics, 82(3), 383-392.
Stuhler, J. (2018). A review of intergenerational mobility and its drivers. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
Torche, F. (2021). 139 Educational Mobility in the Developing World, in Social Mobility in Developing Countries: Concepts, Methods, and Determinants. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192896858.003.0007.
Tomescu-Dubrow, I., & Domański, H. (2010). How to model parental education effects on men and women’s attainment? Cross-national assessments of different approaches, ASK. Research and Methods. 9(1, 2010): 21-50.
Torul, O., & Öztunalı, O. (2017). Intergenerational educational mobility in Europe. World Inequality Database. Available at https://wid.world/www-site/uploads/2017/11/011-Oztunali.pdf. Accessed on March 15, 2025.
Zamfir, A.-M., Aldea, A. B., & Molea, R.-M. (2024). Stratification and Inequality in the Secondary Education System in Romania, Systems, 12(1), 15. Available at https://doi.org/10.3390/systems12010015. Accessed on March 15, 2025.
Zelinsky, T., Mysikova, M., & Vecernik, J. (2016). Occupational mobility, educational mobility and intergenerational transmission of disadvantages in Europe, Ekonomický c̆asopis. 64. 197-217.
Becker, G. S., Kominers, S. D., Murphy, K. M., & Spenkuch, J. L. (2018). A theory of intergenerational mobility, Journal of Political Economy, 126(S1), S7-S25.
Ben-Halima, B., Chusseau, N., & Hellier, J. (2013). Skill Premia and Intergenerational Skill Transmission: The French Case. (Working Paper No. 285). ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
Blau, P. M., & Duncan, O. D. (1967). The American Occupational Structure. New York: Wiley.
Borgerhoff Mulder, M., Towner, M. C., Baldini, R., Beheim, B. A., Bowles, S., Colleran, H., ... & Ziker, J. (2019). Differences between sons and daughters in the intergenerational transmission of wealth, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 374(1780), 20180076.
Boudon, R. (1974). Education, Opportunity, and Social Inequality: Changing Prospects in Western Society. New York: Wiley.
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction, in J. Karabel & A. H. Halsey (Eds.), Power and Ideology in Education, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 487-510.
Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life. New York: Basic Books.
Breen, R., & Goldthorpe, J. H. (1997). Explaining Educational Differentials: Towards a Formal Rational Action Theory, Rationality and Society, 9(3), 275-305.
Chevalier, A., Denny, K., & McMahon, D. (2003). A multi-country study of inter-generational educational mobility (No. WP03/14). Centre for Economic Research Working Paper Series. Centre for Economic Research, University College Dublin.
Choudhary, A., & Singh, A. (2019). Do Indian daughters shadow their mothers? A case of intergenerational educational mobility among women, International Journal of Social Economics, 46(9), 1095-1118.
Chusseau, N., Hellier, J., & Ben-Halima, B. (2013). Education, intergenerational mobility and inequality, in Growing Income Inequalities: Economic Analyses. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 227-273.
Dahan, M., & Gaviria, A. (2001). Sibling correlations and intergenerational mobility in Latin America, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 49(3), 537-554.
Di Paolo, A., Raymond, J. L., & Calero, J. (2010). Exploring educational mobility in Europe (IEB Working Paper No. 2010/23). Institut d’Economia de Barcelona (IEB), University of Barcelona.
Eide, E. R., & Showalter, M. H. (2011). Estimating the relation between health and education: What do we know and what do we need to know? Economics of Education Review, 30(5), 778-791.
Fletcher, J., & Han, J. (2019). Intergenerational mobility in education: Variation in geography and time, Journal of Human Capital, 13(4), 585-634.
Hai, R., & Heckman, J. J. (2017). Inequality in human capital and endogenous credit constraints, Review of economic dynamics, 25, 4-36.
Hatos, A. (2012). Evoluţia inegalităţilor educaţionale în România: tranziţiile educaţionale ale celor născuţi până în 1985, Sociologie Românească, 10(01), 36-64.
Hatos, A. (2014). Serving the New Class: The Dynamics of Educational Transitions for Romanian Adults Born Before 1985 During Communism and Afterwards, Social indicators research, 119, 1699-1729.
Heineck, G., & Riphahn, R. T. (2009). Intergenerational transmission of educational attainment in Germany-the last five decades, Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, 229(1), 36-60.
Hertz, T., Jayasundera, T., Piraino, P., Selcuk, S., Smith, N., & Verashchagina, A. (2008). The inheritance of educational inequality: International comparisons and fifty-year trends, The BE Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 7(2).
Holm, A., Jæger, M. M., Karlson, K. B., & Reimer, D. (2013). Incomplete equalization: The effect of tracking in secondary education on educational inequality, Social science research, 42(6), 1431-1442.
Hossler D., & Gallagher K. (1987) Studying student college choice: a three-phase model and the implications for policymakers, Coll Univ, 62(3), 207-221.
Jacobs, B., & Van der Velden, R. (2021). Exploring the uncharted waters of educational mobility: The role of key skills. Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA), Maastricht University.
Kevane, M., and D. Levine (2003). Are Investments in Daughters Lower When Daughters Move Away? Economics Research Working Paper C03-127, Cambridge, MA: Center for International Development.
Korupp, S. E., Ganzeboom, H. B. G., & Van Der Lippe, T. (2002). Do mothers matter? A comparison of models of the influence of mothers’ and fathers’ educational and occupational status on children’s educational attainment, Quality & Quantity, 36(1), 17-42.
Kristoffersen, I. (2018). Great expectations: Education and subjective wellbeing, Journal of Economic Psychology, 66, 64-78.
Lee, H., & Lee, J. W. (2021). Patterns and determinants of intergenerational educational mobility: evidence across countries, Pacific Economic Review, 26(1), 70-90.
Lillard, L. A., & Willis, R. J. (1994). Intergenerational educational mobility: Effects of family and state in Malaysia, Journal of Human Resources, 1126-1166.
Lucas, S. R. (2001). Effectively Maintained Inequality: Education Transitions, Track Mobility, and Social Background Effects, American Journal of Sociology, 106(6), 1642-1690.
Machin, S., Marie, O., & Vujić, S. (2011). The crime reducing effect of education. The Economic Journal, 121(552), 463-484.
Mayer, A. K. (2011). Does education increase political participation? The Journal of Politics, 73(3), 633-645.
Neidhöfer, G., Serrano, J., & Gasparini, L. (2018). Educational inequality and intergenerational mobility in Latin America: A new database, Journal of development economics, 134, 329-349.
Nunn, A. (2012). Fostering social mobility as a contribution to social cohesion. Council of Europe. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
OECD (2024). Education at a Glance 2024: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD Publishing. Available at https://doi.org/10.1787/c00cad36-en. Accessed on March 15, 2025.
Papp Z, A., & Zsigmond, C. D. (2021). Educational mobility of Hungarian first- and multi-generational young intellectuals in four countries, Szociológiai Szemle, 31(3), 132-157.
Raaum, O., Salvanes, K. G., & Sørensen, E. Ø. (2006). The neighbourhood is not what it used to be, The Economic Journal, 116(508), 200-222.
Robayo-Abril, M., & Rude, B. (2023). Gender Dimensions in the Educational Sector in Romania (No. 40669). Washington, D.C.: The World Bank Group.
Roşu, M. (2016). Mobilitatea intergeneraţională ocupaţională şi educaţională în România. O analiză a cohortelor 1955-1966 şi 1977-1985, Anuarul Institutului de Istorie “George Barițiu” din Cluj-Napoca-Seria HUMANISTICA, 14(14), 25-52.
Rustichini, A., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2017). The contribution of skills and family background to educational mobility, The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 119(1), 148-177.
Siddiqui, L. A., & Shokeen, N. (2024). Women and Intergenerational Mobility in Education: A Micro-Level Study from Weavers’ Community of Varanasi, India, Social Indicators Research, 172(1), 219-237.
Solon, G., Page, M. E., & Duncan, G. J. (2000). Correlations between neighboring children in their subsequent educational attainment, Review of Economics and Statistics, 82(3), 383-392.
Stuhler, J. (2018). A review of intergenerational mobility and its drivers. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
Torche, F. (2021). 139 Educational Mobility in the Developing World, in Social Mobility in Developing Countries: Concepts, Methods, and Determinants. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192896858.003.0007.
Tomescu-Dubrow, I., & Domański, H. (2010). How to model parental education effects on men and women’s attainment? Cross-national assessments of different approaches, ASK. Research and Methods. 9(1, 2010): 21-50.
Torul, O., & Öztunalı, O. (2017). Intergenerational educational mobility in Europe. World Inequality Database. Available at https://wid.world/www-site/uploads/2017/11/011-Oztunali.pdf. Accessed on March 15, 2025.
Zamfir, A.-M., Aldea, A. B., & Molea, R.-M. (2024). Stratification and Inequality in the Secondary Education System in Romania, Systems, 12(1), 15. Available at https://doi.org/10.3390/systems12010015. Accessed on March 15, 2025.
Zelinsky, T., Mysikova, M., & Vecernik, J. (2016). Occupational mobility, educational mobility and intergenerational transmission of disadvantages in Europe, Ekonomický c̆asopis. 64. 197-217.