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 to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Regional Studies, Regional Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21681376.2025.2525432 |
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| author | Mihails Hazans Rasmus Bøgh Holmen Jānis Upenieks Oksana Žabko |
| author_facet | Mihails Hazans Rasmus Bøgh Holmen Jānis Upenieks Oksana Žabko |
| author_sort | Mihails Hazans |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3a6cc8f0545243098bede9c5c14953ca |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2168-1376 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Regional Studies, Regional Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-3a6cc8f0545243098bede9c5c14953ca2025-08-20T02:55:04ZengTaylor & Francis GroupRegional Studies, Regional Science2168-13762025-12-0112168270210.1080/21681376.2025.2525432STEM-oriented secondary education in Latvia: spatial inequalities in access and achievementsMihails Hazans0Rasmus Bøgh Holmen1Jānis Upenieks2Oksana Žabko3Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Latvia, Riga, LatviaCentre for Applied Research at NHH (SNF), Bergen, NorwayBaltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies (BICEPS), Riga, LatviaInstitute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia, Riga, LatviaEducation 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.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21681376.2025.2525432Access to secondary educationSTEM-oriented programmesregional disparitiesachievement gapgeographic information systemNordic-Baltic region |
| spellingShingle | Mihails Hazans Rasmus Bøgh Holmen Jānis Upenieks Oksana Žabko STEM-oriented secondary education in Latvia: spatial inequalities in access and achievements Regional Studies, Regional Science Access to secondary education STEM-oriented programmes regional disparities achievement gap geographic information system Nordic-Baltic region |
| title | STEM-oriented secondary education in Latvia: spatial inequalities in access and achievements |
| title_full | STEM-oriented secondary education in Latvia: spatial inequalities in access and achievements |
| title_fullStr | STEM-oriented secondary education in Latvia: spatial inequalities in access and achievements |
| title_full_unstemmed | STEM-oriented secondary education in Latvia: spatial inequalities in access and achievements |
| title_short | STEM-oriented secondary education in Latvia: spatial inequalities in access and achievements |
| title_sort | stem oriented secondary education in latvia spatial inequalities in access and achievements |
| topic | Access to secondary education STEM-oriented programmes regional disparities achievement gap geographic information system Nordic-Baltic region |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21681376.2025.2525432 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mihailshazans stemorientedsecondaryeducationinlatviaspatialinequalitiesinaccessandachievements AT rasmusbøghholmen stemorientedsecondaryeducationinlatviaspatialinequalitiesinaccessandachievements AT janisupenieks stemorientedsecondaryeducationinlatviaspatialinequalitiesinaccessandachievements AT oksanazabko stemorientedsecondaryeducationinlatviaspatialinequalitiesinaccessandachievements |