Abstract

This paper studies the perceptions about university access, sense of effort, meritocracy, and social inequalities of students from 8 elite Chilean higher education institutions. Using 1773 responses to a questionnaire that was applied to a stratified sample of students from these universities, regression models that control for differences between socioeconomic groups, types of university and time of stay are estimated. The results show that the type of university is the main axis of differentiation in these perceptions, with traditional university students being more skeptical of meritocracy and individualistic explanations than their peers from emerging private universities. Furthermore, there is a relative homogeneity within each type of university, except in those items related to university entrance. It is concluded that the different types of elite institutions are a relevant distinction for understanding the diversity of perceptions that exist among those who transit through these highly influence spaces at the national level.