This paper is a theoretical examination of three major empirical trends that affect many people: globalisation, increasingly close relations between higher education (HE) and labour markets, and increasing social inequality. Its aim is to identify key theoretical resources and their contribution to the development of a comparative theoretical framework for understanding countries' responses to globalisation with respect to HE and the labour market, and the significance of such responses for social inequality. The method consists in developing a theoretical reading of Bourdieu's and Brown's theoretical concepts of social inequality in the interrelation of HE and labour market. As a result this paper presents preliminary ideas for the theoretical comparison of current societies' HE systems and labour markets with regard to social inequality in the age of globalisation. It concludes by illustrating the need for further comparative research in this area. (Contains 2 notes.)