Evaluating the application of possibility and equality of opportunity in higher education according to chaos theory

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the situations related to possibility and equality of opportunity in higher education in terms of chaos theory. During the research process, the aim was to determine the extent to which socio-economic chaos arising from student characteristics affected the possibility and equality of opportunity in higher education. In democratic countries, where it is considered that almost all professions with a high social status cannot be acquired without having a higher education qualification, higher education as a fundamental human right should be disseminated to different classes of the society. In this research, functions of a democratic educational administration upon the possibility and equality of opportunity in higher education in Turkey were discussed within the scope of sociologic variables. The population of “The Research for Equality of Opportunity and Possibility in Higher Education within the Concept of Democratic and Sociologic Features” included 29,477 students studying at Erzincan and Mersin Universities in 2012–2013 academic year; and the study sample included 776 students chosen with random cluster sampling model according to the faculties of both universities. Students with illiterate mothers were found to have benefited from the secondary education at a lower level than the other student groups. The student groups with high school and university graduate mothers were found to have benefited from the secondary education opportunities at a higher level.