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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.16457 |
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| _version_ | 1866911325746102272 |
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| author | Ríos, Francisco Muñoz, Fernanda Bravo, Valeria Castillo, Gonzalo Núñez, Inti Maluenda-Albornoz, Jorge Navarrete, Carlos |
| author_facet | Ríos, Francisco Muñoz, Fernanda Bravo, Valeria Castillo, Gonzalo Núñez, Inti Maluenda-Albornoz, Jorge Navarrete, Carlos |
| contents | The relationship between socioeconomic background, academic performance, and post-secondary educational outcomes remains a significant concern for policymakers and researchers globally. While the literature often relies on self-reported or aggregate data, its ability to trace individual pathways limits these studies. Here, we analyze administrative records from over 2.7 million Chilean students (2021-2024) to map post-secondary trajectories across the entire education system. Using machine learning, we identify seven distinct student archetypes and introduce the Educational Space, a two-dimensional representation of students based on academic performance and family background. We show that, despite comparable academic abilities, students follow markedly different enrollment patterns, career choices, and cross-regional migration behaviors depending on their socioeconomic origins and position in the educational space. For instance, high-achieving, low-income students tend to remain in regional institutions, while their affluent peers are more geographically mobile. Our approach provides a scalable framework applicable worldwide for using administrative data to uncover structural constraints on educational mobility and inform policies aimed at reducing spatial and social inequality. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_16457 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Talent is Everywhere, Mobility is Not: Mapping the Topological Anchors of Educational Pathways Ríos, Francisco Muñoz, Fernanda Bravo, Valeria Castillo, Gonzalo Núñez, Inti Maluenda-Albornoz, Jorge Navarrete, Carlos Computers and Society The relationship between socioeconomic background, academic performance, and post-secondary educational outcomes remains a significant concern for policymakers and researchers globally. While the literature often relies on self-reported or aggregate data, its ability to trace individual pathways limits these studies. Here, we analyze administrative records from over 2.7 million Chilean students (2021-2024) to map post-secondary trajectories across the entire education system. Using machine learning, we identify seven distinct student archetypes and introduce the Educational Space, a two-dimensional representation of students based on academic performance and family background. We show that, despite comparable academic abilities, students follow markedly different enrollment patterns, career choices, and cross-regional migration behaviors depending on their socioeconomic origins and position in the educational space. For instance, high-achieving, low-income students tend to remain in regional institutions, while their affluent peers are more geographically mobile. Our approach provides a scalable framework applicable worldwide for using administrative data to uncover structural constraints on educational mobility and inform policies aimed at reducing spatial and social inequality. |
| title | Talent is Everywhere, Mobility is Not: Mapping the Topological Anchors of Educational Pathways |
| topic | Computers and Society |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.16457 |