| Abstract [eng] |
Certain social groups are more vulnerable within the education system, as they are underrepresented in higher education and have a higher risk of underachievement. Socially vulnerable groups in the Lithuanian education system include individuals with at least one parent without a higher education qualification, low-income social groups, persons with disabilities, individuals living in remote rural areas, and national minorities (persons whose native language is not Lithuanian). This dissertation aims to investigate the successful pathways of socially vulnerable groups towards higher education and to identify the institutional and subjective conditions that facilitated their access to higher education. The dissertation draws on theoretical approaches of institutional analysis and capital, habitus and field. It analyses legal acts regulating the Lithuanian education and study system through qualitative content analysis, and data from semi-structured interviews with representatives of socially vulnerable groups who have successfully achieved higher education. The dissertation reveals that access to higher education is facilitated by accessible educational and cultural services, vocational guidance, availability of financial support, positive attitudes towards learning among the individual's family, friends, and relatives, and through the individual's participation in social activities, extracurricular activities, and personal efforts to learn. |
