[lsc]

>Of course, in many countries the ability to get an advanced degree is not very dependent on being wealthy

I... find your assertion to be unlikely. Of course, I could be wrong. Do you have statistics? Is there a country where there is not a very strong correlation between high parental income and advanced degrees?

[nikanj]

Finland should have no correlation here, as all the schools are free and you get an allowance from the government for the duration of your studies. Unfortunately it turns out a high income correlates well with having an advanced degree, and a parent with an advanced degree correlates well with a child who has one.

Which results in a situation where the higher socio-economical status of your parents makes you much more likely to have an advanced degree, even though there should be no correlation.

[drpgq]

Obviously IQ has something to do with this.

[simonbarker87]

Most of the people in my PhD lab were paid to be there, fees waived and 50% from what would be described as low income backgrounds - anecdotal I know, but in the UK you don't need to be wealthy to get an advanced degree ... although getting the first degree got a bit more expensive a couple of years ago.

[watwut]

The correlation in Europe tend to be between parental education level and child education level. The correlation between parental income and education level of the child is weaker.

Being educated does not imply being wealthy.

[dragonwriter]

This is true in the United States (there is a very strong correlation between wealth and education level, but the correlation between parent's education level and child's education level is stronger than the correlation between parent's wealth and child's education level; IIRC, there still some evidence that the wealth plays some role independent of parent's education level in determining child's education level, but its a smaller role.)

[jarek]

No statistics, sorry. If you want to look yourself try the usual suspects, India, Iran, ex-Soviet states...