Changes in Educational Aspiration Gap in Korea from 2003 to 2023: The Context of Expanded Higher Education

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study investigates long-term trends in educational aspirations and their stratification by family socioeconomic status (SES) in Korea. Guided by the maximally maintained inequality (MMI) framework, two hypotheses were tested: that higher education expansion would reduce SES gaps in college aspirations and increase SES gaps in graduate education aspirations. Using six waves of the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS, 2003–2023), multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted on nationally representative samples of Korean eighth graders. Findings reveal that aspirations for both college and graduate education declined over time, despite the saturation of higher education attainment in society. SES gaps in aspirations for both levels remained stable rather than narrowing or widening. These results suggest that inequality in educational aspirations persists even under universal higher education and call for policies that go beyond access to address how aspirations are formed across different social groups.