Unveiling the evolving educational inequality from upper secondary to higher education in South Korea: from effectively maintained inequality theory perspective

Using nationally representative data from South Korea, this study tracks cumulative educational inequality at key educational transitions from lower to upper secondary education and from upper secondary to higher education. Using the effectively maintained inequality (EMI) theory, this paper firstly finds that high-socioeconomic status (SES) students take advantages of attending high-quality high schools, namely autonomous and special-purpose high schools. In addition, the findings reveal that the benefits of attending these high-caliber high schools manifest in the form of enhanced academic achievements and provide increased prospects for students to gain admission to 4-year universities in capital areas anticipated to experience future income growth. Furthermore, greater socioeconomic advantage is consistently associated with ascending the school hierarchy at each transition. The study’s findings highlight the persistent and cumulative influence of parental SES on students’ educational trajectories, reinforcing educational stratification. Overall, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the heightening educational inequality across students’ educational pathways and offers insights into the ramifications of recent educational policy reforms in South Korea.