Equity and access in higher education: A comparative perspective from Chile and Mongolia

Abstract

What do two countries such as Chile and Mongolia have in common? Probably not much but recent government documents, as well as international organisations, have placed Chile as an example for Mongoliato follow, mainly due to its economic success through the exploitation of mining resources. Currently, Mongolia is experiencing a large-scale commodity boom, especially in the mining sector. This has led them to follow Chile as an example for policy-making and enter the fast-track towards the improvement of Mongolia's economy. Furthermore, the World Bank (2009 ) reports that Mongolia views Chile as a country that has successfully converted its natural resources into shared wealth. To face the challenge of becoming a developed country, both Chile and Mongolia have set their educational policies towards assisting students to succeed in the knowledge economy. This means that an increase in education expenditure is needed and high quality education and skills have to be prioritised ( OECD, 2012 ) . Within the current, rapidly globalising economy and the social changes it has brought, there has been a considerable expansion in access to higher education in many countries, including contemporary Chile and Mongolia. In recent years, our understanding of higher education has been influenced by the knowledge economy, society and labour markets which have shaped the growth and spread of higher education. However, having access to higher education does not ensure equity of educational opportunities. As most of the studies reporting on this issue have been conducted in the industrialised world, very little is known about the developing world. This chapter provides the first comparative analysis of trends in equity of access to higher education between two developing countries from two different continents who share some similarities, such as a market-oriented economy, which have deeply influenced their education systems.