Abstract
The aim of the study is to elaborate a theoretically well grounded concept and to use it for a comparative analysis of the development of inequalities in access to tertiary education in European countries. To achieve the aim, it has been necessary not only to acquire a thorough knowledge of how the theme is dealt with in other countries but, in particular, to find relevant data needed for comparative analyses.
The author - who has concerned himself with the problem for more than twenty years - has solved it in an original way by combining three stages of the European Social Survey (ESS) conducted in 2002-2007, and by supplementing it with a special Czech survey conducted in 2007/2008. The size of the analysed sample of respondents has enabled him not only to carry out comparative analyses but also to analyse the development of inequalities in access to tertiary education during the last fifty years.
A remarkably robust sample created by putting together national samples of 23 European countries (see t