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Individual choice and unequal participation in higher education

Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, UK

Does the unequal participation of non-traditional students in higher education indicate social injustice, even if it can be traced back to individuals' choices? Drawing on luck egalitarian approaches,this article suggests that an answer to this question must take into account the effects of unequal brute luck on educational choices.I use a framework based on expected utility theory to analyse qualitative studies on educational choice.This reveals a variety of mechanisms through which differences in background conditions make non-traditional students less likely to apply to university and/or particular institutions; the unequal participation of nontraditional students in higher education remains a problem of social justice.

Key Words: choice • egalitarianism • equality • higher education

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