Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article primarily analyzes the ongoing crisis in Colombia’s higher education system, characterized, among other factors, by a growing sense of disillusionment among young people toward university education. Drawing on critical theoretical frameworks such as the credential society [Collins, 11], social reproduction theory [Bourdieu & Passeron, 7], and the critique of meritocracy [Sandel, 26], the paper examines the structural disconnect between the massification of access to higher education and the demands of the labor market. It also explores the wage inequality associated with institutional accreditation and the socioeconomic burden imposed by student debt. The study concludes that, far from fulfilling its promise of upward mobility, the Colombian university system has refined mechanisms of stratification that reinforce youth disenchantment with the institution of higher education.
Source: F1000Research
Institution: University of Cauca
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,350
Funder: Universidad del Cauca
Award: G1079675538
OpenAlex ID: W7160702452