STEM-oriented secondary education in Latvia: spatial inequalities in access and achievements

Education scholars and human geographers have extensively studied spatial disparities in access to secondary education, both in developing countries and in advanced economies. However, very few studies have analysed access to specific types of secondary education, particularly programmes oriented toward science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM-oriented programmes). This paper aims to fill this gap using rich geodata and administrative data on Latvia. An overview of the supply of STEM-related skills in the Nordic-Baltic region suggests that in this regard Latvia performs the worst in terms of both recent university graduates and working-age population in general. More densely populated settlements feature better access to STEM programmes, as well as better exam results in STEM disciplines. Estimates of earnings differentials by access time, between programme types and between two modes of travel suggest that children from wealthier families have better access to STEM programmes. Achievement gaps by degree of urbanisation across the distribution of the exam scores are often larger among schools with STEM programmes than among other schools, suggesting a substantial dispersion in the quality of provision of the STEM programmes.