Understanding Equity and Access in the Expansion of Higher Education in Myanmar

In this article, I examine the extent to which higher education has expanded in Myanmar and whether this expansion has widened or narrowed the equity gap in higher education access, using the lenses of the Maximally Maintained Inequality and Rational Choice Model. To achieve this, I employ a parallel mixed-method research design comprising two components: policy analysis and secondary data analysis. I first explore the policy initiatives implemented before 2016 that arguably aimed at promoting equitable access to higher education. Subsequently, using nationally representative data from the Myanmar Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (2000) and separately the Myanmar Demographic & Health Survey (2015-16), I examine the extent to which socio-economic status and certain background characteristics continue to be related to opportunities of access to higher education. I then examine whether the expansion from 2000 to 2016 narrows the socio-economic status differences in access to higher education. The findings suggest that socio-economic status and other background characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, and area of residence became more strongly associated to higher education following the expansion, suggesting a move away, instead of towards, equitable opportunities of access. Although higher education access increased across all socio-economic groups over the period studied, the expansion widened the educational inequalities. This is particularly evident for students from lowersocio-economic backgrounds, those from rural areas, and ethnic minorities. In addition, gender-based admission policy initiatives appear to fall short of addressing the existing gender disparities. Hence, I conclude that the policy initiatives studied in this research did not promote equity, despite ostensibly looking to do so. I contextualise my findings in the current Myanmar milieu and propose policy initiatives which, once researched appropriately, could serve to address the inequalities in access to higher education in Myanmar.