Social Class and Educational Attainment: A Comparative Study of England, Wales, and Scotland

2007 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 330-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Paterson ◽  
Cristina Iannelli
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Initial Phase ◽  
Linear Inequality ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Social Origin ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Country Differences ◽  
Changes Over Time

This article examines variations among England, Wales, and Scotland in the association between social origin and educational attainment and the role that different national educational policies may have played in shaping these variations. The findings show that country variation in the association between origins and attainment was mostly or entirely due to variations in overall levels of attainment. Moreover, inequality was the highest where the proportions attaining a particular threshold were the highest—upper secondary school or higher in Scotland. The authors propose a refinement of Raftery and Hout's theory of maximally maintained inequality that takes into account that the trajectory of inequality is not linear: inequality can widen in the initial phase of expanding opportunity, en route to an eventual contraction, because the most advantaged groups are the first to exploit any new opportunities that policy changes offer. The results show that country differences in educational policy have not yielded different changes over time in the association between origin and educational attainment.

scholarly journals Bildungsungleichheit und Grundschulempfehlung beim Übergang auf das Gymnasium: Eine Dekomposition primärer und sekundärer Herkunftseffekte / Educational Inequality and Teacher Recommendations at the Transition to Upper Secondary School: A Decomposition of Primary and Secondary Effects of Social Origin

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Neugebauer
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Educational Inequality ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Secondary Effects ◽  
Social Origin ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Primary And Secondary Effects ◽  
Teacher Recommendations ◽  
Primäre Und Sekundäre Effekte

ZusammenfassungIn Anlehnung an die klassische Arbeit von Boudon (1974) gibt es zwei Ursachenkomplexe für soziale Bildungsungleichheit: primäre Effekte, die sich im Zusammenhang von sozialer Herkunft und Schulleistungen ausdrücken, und sekundäre Effekte, die schichtspezifische Übergangsneigungen widerspiegeln, selbst bei gleichen schulischen Leistungen. Die Abschätzung der relativen Bedeutung von primären und sekundären Effekten ist das Ziel einer wachsenden Anzahl internationaler Beiträge. Die vorliegende Untersuchung möchte hierzu einen Beitrag leisten, indem sie erstens die relative Bedeutung der Effekte am Übergang auf das Gymnasium in Deutschland abschätzt und zweitens untersucht, inwieweit die bundeslandspezifische Ausgestaltung der Grundschulempfehlung die relative Bedeutung von primären zu sekundären Effekten beeinflusst. Mit bundesweiten Längsschnittdaten des DJI Kinderpanels der Jahre 2002 bis 2005 lassen sich primäre und sekundäre Effekte durch eine neue kontrafaktische Dekompositionsanalyse zerlegen. Es wird gezeigt, dass sekundäre Effekte 59 Prozent der Bildungsungleichheit am Übergang auf das Gymnasium ausmachen. Besonders bedeutsam sind sie bei Kindern im mittleren Notenbereich. Weiterhin finden sich Hinweise, dass der relative Erklärungsbeitrag von sekundären Effekten größer ist, wenn Eltern frei entscheiden können und geringer, wenn die elterliche Wahlfreiheit durch eine verbindliche Grundschulempfehlung eingeschränkt wird. Theoretische und bildungspolitische Konsequenzen werden diskutiert.

scholarly journals Those who leave and those who stay - features of internationally mobile vs. domestic students

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Hovdhaugen ◽  
Jannecke Wiers-Jenssen
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Social Origin ◽  
Domestic Students ◽  
Subject Field ◽  
Mobile Students ◽  
Select Group ◽  
Upper Secondary

In this paper we investigated how internationally mobile students diverge from domestic students regarding social origin, grades obtained at upper secondary school and motivation to study. Data from two comparable surveys were used, one relating to students abroad and one relating to domestic students. Results showed that on average, mobile students were of higher social origin than domestic students, but this did not apply across all fields. In some subject fields, mobile students had higher grades than domestic students, while they were lower in other. Mobile students clearly demonstrated higher motivation than domestic students, even when controlling for subject field and background variables. In sum, we found that mobile students constitute a select group in several ways, most prominently regarding study motivation. This suggests that mobile students potentially represent a positive contribution to the learning environment in more ways than just bringing diversity in cultural background.

scholarly journals Adolescent Females with Limited Delinquency: A Follow-Up on Educational Attainment and Recidivism

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azade Azad ◽  
Hanna Ginner Hau
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Offenders ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Compulsory Education ◽  
Adolescent Females ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
School Problems ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Upper Secondary

Abstract Background Research has established a strong relationship between education and later life outcomes, where the connection between different school problems and delinquency have been widely acknowledged. These studies have often sampled male juvenile offenders exhibiting extensive and/or persistent delinquency. Less is known about the educational attainment of female juvenile offenders, especially those who display limited delinquency. In a previous study (Azad and Ginner Hau in Child Youth Serv Rev 95:384–396, 2018), the characteristics of this particular group of offenders were explored where the results showed limited self-reported delinquency but elevated school problems. Objective The present aim was to conduct a follow-up study of the same sample of female adolescents, in order to study their educational attainment during adolescence and the rate of recidivism within 24 months after being sentenced through registry data. Method The sample consisted of adolescent females (N = 144) who were convicted of a crime and sentenced to youth service between 2007 and 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden. Results The results showed that the majority of the females did not reoffend within 2 years after being sentenced. They did, however, display high educational deficits. Their grade point average at the end of both compulsory education and upper secondary school was much lower than that of young females in general, and the majority had either dropped out, never begun or received zero in all subjects at the end of upper secondary school. Conclusions The low school results indicate a need to support young delinquent females’ educational attainment in order to improve their overall life chances.

scholarly journals Does Parental Migration During Childhood Affect Children's Lifetime Educational Attainment? Evidence From Mexico

Demography ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Thomas Wassink ◽  
Janelle Ashley Viera
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Educational Aspirations ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
Parental Migration ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Upper Secondary

Abstract Existing scholarship reveals important and competing influences of parental migration on children's educational trajectories. On the one hand, in the short term, left-behind children commonly take on additional housework and sometimes place less emphasis on education if they aspire to follow in their parents' migratory footsteps. On the other hand, parental migration often leads to monetary transfers (remittances), which reduces financial pressure on sending households and can strengthen educational aspirations among children left behind. Because previous studies examined these effects on children still completing their educations, the cumulative impact of parental migration on children's educational attainment remains uncertain. In this study, we use retrospective life history data from the Mexican Migration Project to link parental migrations occurring during childhood with children's educational attainment measured in adulthood. Using a novel counterfactual approach, we find that parental migration during childhood is associated with increased years of schooling and higher probabilities of completing lower-secondary school, entering upper-secondary school, and completing upper-secondary school. These associations were strongest among children whose parents did not complete primary school and those living in rural areas. Results from a placebo test suggest that these positive associations cannot be attributed to unobserved household characteristics related to parental migration, which supports a causal interpretation of our main findings. Thus, our analysis suggests that, on average, and particularly among more-disadvantaged households, the long-term educational benefits associated with parental migration outweigh short-term disruptions and strain associated with parental absence.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document