Fairness issues are quite widespread in educational research. However, despite the large number of empirical studies on this topic, few question the precise way in which equality is defined and assessed. That is especially true with regards to access to higher education. In most empirical studies, it seems straightforward to consider fair any situation in which the rates of access to both higher education in general as well as to the most desirable tracks are equal irrespective of students' personal characteristics (gender, social background, etc.) (...).