How does education affect confidence in higher education? -corruption within the education system and postmaterialist values as contextual factors-

• In Event: Policy and Politics of Education

Proposal

Introduction/Relevance: Only 36% of U.S. adults expressed confidence in higher education in 2023, dropping significantly from 57% in 2015 (Gallup, 2023). While the U.S. faces its own challenges, similar skepticism towards the value of universities exists in other societies (Peterson, 2020). Public confidence plays a crucial role in the survival of higher education as it influences the allocation of public resources (AGB, 2018). The decline in confidence may lead to public refusal or protests against providing financial support to colleges. Such a situation is alarming because robust support for higher education is vital for a well-functioning civil society (Peterson, 2020).

Theory: Two theories are relevant to this discussion: the evaluative effects of education on institutional confidence and the critical effects of education on institutional confidence (Ugur-Cinar et al., 2020). According to the “evaluative effects” theory, education equips individuals with skills and moral values that enable them to accurately assess the performance of institutions (Hakhverdian & Mayne, 2012). As a result, the effect of education on institutional support depends on the functioning of institutions. Hakhverdian and Mayne (2012) found that education was negatively correlated with confidence in political institutions in corrupt European countries but positively associated in non-corrupt ones. On the other hand, the “critical effects” theory suggests that better-educated citizens tend to question conventional political institutions due to education’s influence on postmaterialist values, prioritizing concepts such as environmental protection and freedom of speech over economic growth and maintaining order (Dalton, 2004). Inglehart (2003) observed a negative association between public support of authority and education in high-income countries, but a positive association in low-income countries. He attributed this difference to the more pronounced activation of postmaterialist values in high-income countries. In summary, both theories do not propose that education itself inherently encourages or discourages institutional confidence; rather, the direction of the effect of education on institutional confidence depends on contextual factors.

Inquiry/Context: The present research investigated the context-specific effects of education on confidence in higher education using World Values Survey Wave 7 data (2017-2022) across forty-eight countries. The sample included 51,489 adults aged 23 to 85 from 17 Asian, 11 European, 8 South American, 7 African, 3 North/Central American, and 2 Oceanian nations and regions. The rich cross-country dataset provided valuable insights into contextual factors influencing the association between public confidence and education. The random-intercept logit model was used for model building (Level 1: individuals. Level 2: countries. ICC=0.10). A dependent variable is binary, indicating whether one had confidence in universities (1) or not (0). A key independent variable is the highest educational level attained, ranging from 1 (primary education or less) to 5 (bachelor’s degree or above). The first model included two critical contextual factors: corruption within the education system and postmaterialist values. The corruption level of the education system is the country-level variable obtained from Global Corruption Barometer in 2013 (Transparency International, 2013), measured on a scale from 0 (least corrupt) to 1 (most corrupt). The postmaterialist values are represented by an individual-level binary variable, indicating their opinions on national priorities related to citizens’ voices and environments (1) or economic growth and military (0). Demographic and important covariates were controlled for. To evaluate the context-specific effects of education, interaction terms of education with the corruption level and postmaterialist values were further added to the final model. Unless stated, all reported results below were statistically significant (p<0.05).

Findings: The first model’s result revealed a positive association between one’s confidence in higher education and their education level across countries. Holding other variables constant, there was a 13% increase in the odds of supporting colleges for a one-unit increase in education level across countries. The corruption within the education system was negatively associated with confidence in universities. In contrast, a measure of postmaterialist values was positively associated with trust in universities, indicating that individuals with postmaterialist values were more likely to have confidence in universities. As expected under the “evaluative effects” theory, the final model’s result showed that the interaction of education and the corruption level was negatively associated with confidence in universities. This indicates that the positive role of education on confidence in higher education diminished as the country’s level of corruption in education increased. However, the coefficient of education was insignificant and did not turn out to be negative in a highly corrupted context. Contrary to the assumption of the “critical effects” theory, the interaction of education and postmaterialist values was positive. This indicates that educated individuals trusted universities more as they held stronger postmaterialist values.

Contribution: The present research evaluated the context-specific effects of education on confidence in higher education. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the effect of education on confidence in higher education across countries. The result indicates that the evaluative effects of education on institutional confidence may partly explain the association between confidence in higher education and education level. Education would enhance skills and values to evaluate higher education's positive performance accurately. Contrary to previous findings on the “evaluative effects”, however, there was no relationship between confidence in universities and education under contexts where higher education was corrupted. Such a result occurred plausibly because of the pervasive public mistrust in flawed higher education regardless of one’s education level. Furthermore, the present study did not find evidence to support the “critical effects” theory. The absence of such evidence can be explained by the difference in institution types: political and non-political. The past research indicated that educated people with postmaterialist values would likely doubt traditional political entities, such as Congress and courts. Higher education is regarded as a non-political entity. Moreover, higher education is a public space where postmaterialist values, such as freedom of voice and self-actualization, are ensured. Because of this, educated people would not question the value of universities. The present study suggests that the impact of education level on public support in higher education is context-dependent. To receive substantial public support, policymakers and university leaders should strengthen accountability and transparency in higher education.

Author

• Tetsuya Yamada, University of Pittsburgh School of Education