Artikel

De weerslag van de universitaire spreiding op de participatie op het universitair onderwijs en op de universiteitskeuze der studenten: een kwantiatieve analyse

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Abstract

Increased participation to university education and redistribution of the stock of university students as a result of the establishment of new universities in Belgium - The object of the study is twofold: first, to find out by regression analysis what factors are determining regional differences in participation to university education in Belgium, to isolate the impact of the factor “distance to university” and to measure the effect of shortening distance through establishment of new university centres. Secondly, to study by regression analysis what factors are determining the preference for one or other university, to isolate the impact of the factor “relative distance” and to measure the effect of changing relative distances through establishing new university centres. The regression analysis is based on cross-sectional data. Data on population, education, income, professional structure, etc. are available for each of the 41 districts (arrondissements) of Belgium. All data refer to the early sixties. The 41 districts yield 41 observed values for each of the variables concerned. Let us concentrate first on the first part of the study, which analyses the effect determining participation to university education and tries to isolate the effect of the factor distance. The exogenous variables used are given in Table I. The results of the alternative regressions are in Table II. The regression equation yielding the best result is: Xi = 10,93 + 1,048Di - 6,051Ri. (coeff. of determination: 0,934) where Xi is the participation coefficient of district i (in °/°°), Ri the timedistance from the largest town in district i to the nearest university and Di the number of salaried managers, professionals and sub-professionals employed in district i divided through total population of district i (in °/°°). The next step was to calculate how R would change by the successive establishment of new universities in Antwerp (Province of Antwerp), Kortrijk (Province of West-Flanders), Hasselt (Province of Limburg) and Mons (Province of Hainaut), and to what extent the change in R would bring about a change in participation and in the number of students. The outcomes of these calculations are in Table III. It appears that the 4 universities together would increase the number of university students of Belgium by only 7 %. The second part of the study tries to find out what the different blocks of universities would gain and loose by the new establishments. We distinguish 4 blocks: the block of catholic universities comprising the old university Leuven (or Louvain) and the university centres Kortrijk (newly established) and Hasselt (eventually to be established). The blocks of universities, in the development of which the State plays the predominant role are Ghent (old established) and Antwerp (new established) for the Dutch-speaking districts and Liège (old established) and Mons (new established) for the French-speaking districts. Finally there is the Liberal University of Brussels, which will remain without subsidiaries. The regression equations measuring the preferences are in Table V. The endogenous and exogenous variables used are explained in Table IV. It appears that relative distance R” en socio-political structure K are important factors in the choice of university. On the basis of the regression equations in Table V, expected shifts of students of the different universities are estimated in Table VI. Table VIII gives the estimated gains and losses resulting from increased student population, on the one hand, and from shifts of the existing stock of students on the other hand. The main conclusion is that gains and losses of university centres within a given block may be important, but that gans anid losses of the blocks themselves are marginal.

How to Cite:

Maton, J., (1968) “De weerslag van de universitaire spreiding op de participatie op het universitair onderwijs en op de universiteitskeuze der studenten: een kwantiatieve analyse”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 13(1), 38–65. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95789