Abstract

In this article, data on the association between the educational levels of spouses for 63 countries are analyzed to gain insight in the tendency towards social closure among the educational elites of these countries. The results show that in all of the countries individuals with a high educational level tend to marry within their own educational group, but that the strength of this tendency differs considerably among the countries. In the second part of the article, these differences among countries are explained in terms of the level of economic development, the degree of political democracy, the dominant religion, and the size of the educational elites. In countries with higher levels of economic development, in Protestant countries, in countries with an intermediate level of democracy, and in countries with larger educational elites, the tendency to marry within the own group among the higher educated is lower than in other countries. Besides differences among countries, also trends within countries are studied. The results of this analysis indicate that in the decades after World War II in most of the countries the openness of the educational elite has increased.

How to Cite:

Smits, J., (1997) “Sociale geslotenheid onder hoger opgeleiden: een vergelijking van huwelijkspatronen in 63 landen”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 18(3), 301–327. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86421