Countries differ widely in the extent to which they are able to provide educational opportunities to marginalised communities and how effectively such opportunities lead to social mobility. We report new cross-country comparable data on disparities in countries that are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) between immigrant-heritage individuals and individuals without an immigrant background in access, participation and completion in higher education (HE). We also report between-country differences in the educational aspirations of individuals with and without an immigrant background. We compare the disadvantage immigrant-heritage individuals experience in different countries with other forms of disadvantage – with a focus on socio-economic status and urban/rural residency.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted by OECD, produces every three years a very comprehensive database on the skills of 15-year-old students from a large number of countries in mathematics, reading, and science. In addition to the data on skills, PISA also collects data on student background, interests, and aspirations. Students are also asked about their expected highest level of education. In social media and in reports, OECD distributes country averages of educational expectations, a data summary that is critically evaluated in this chapter.