College Entrance of People with Disabilities in Korea: Effect of Family Background by Gender

The number of Koreans with disabilities entering college (including vocational colleges and universities) has sharply increased since the introduction of the Special Admission System for the Disabled in 1995. This study pays attention to the effect of gender and family background on college entrance among people with disabilities. Logit regression analyses were conducted using data from the first wave of the Panel Survey of Employment for the Disabled, a nationwide survey on people with disabilities in Korea. The results showed that gender and family backgrounds (i.e. father’s education, subjective economic level in childhood) were significantly associated with college entrance. The interaction effect of the father’s education and gender was significant as well. Women whose fathers had less than a high school education had a lower probability of attending college compared to men with the same educational background. However, the marginal gender difference diminished among those with fathers who completed high school education or above. These findings suggest that gender and family background may lead to gaps in educational attainment among people with disabilities. More active policy attention and support are needed for women with disabilities and low socioeconomic backgrounds, as they may face additional disadvantages compared to men.