Abstract
Interest in the complex relationship between the growth of tertiary education and the changing level of inequity can be observed since the sixties of the twentieth century. Although large international surveys focused on inequalities in access to tertiary education are rather an exception, it is still possible to carry out comparative analyses based on data gathered from surveys conducted on other themes.
This has been the aim of our latest study that has utilised data of the European Social Survey (2002-2009). Although limited by the data available, the study can still contribute to the understanding of two central problems: how the inequalities have changed during the last sixty years, that is during the period of an unprecedented expansion of tertiary education in twenty-five European countries, and what has been the relative weight of four main factors of socio-economic background – of the education and occupation of both parents.