Socioeconomic status and graduate education: Unequal choices, unequal outcomes

Balazs Barabas

Large disparities by socioeconomic status in educational attainment and the likelihood of obtaining a university degree have been widely studied, increasingly with a focus on the types of undergraduate programmes that students pursue. This column explores instead how socioeconomic status affects the choice of graduate degree in Ireland and the impact this has on earnings gaps among graduates. The findings suggest that disparities in overall graduate attendance are less consequential for