The International Observatory on Academic Achievement - Documentary search

File number :
CS-ISC-30e

Bibliographic reference :
Marks, G.N. (2005). Cross-National Differences and Accounting for Social Class Inequalities in Education. International Sociology, 20(4), 483-505.

Abstract :

The goal of this Australian research project was to compare the relative influence of material, cultural and academic factors on the relationship between paternal occupational status and high school students’ reading achievement in thirty countries.

Cross-national Differences in Social Class Inequalities in Education
The author of this article brought out three main theoretical considerations that may account for cross-national differences with regard to educational inequalities.

First, he emphasized the fact that educational inequalities often reflect social inequalities observed in the country itself. For instance, in some countries where income inequalities tend to be weaker, educational inequalities also tend to be weaker.

Second, some researchers argue that national modernization and economic development contribute to reducing the influence of socio-economic status on educational inequalities. However, other researchers point out that these variables have little effect on educational inequalities, which are instead due to the historical, institutional and political characteristics of each country.

Third, it is believed that how school systems are tracked in some countries (e.g., educational differentiation leading to different educational pathways) tends to perpetuate social inequalities by giving priority to privileged groups.

Three Theoretical Explanations of Social Class Inequalities in Education
The first explanation focuses on material and financial resources. In this perspective, students from privileged families are likely to perform better at school since they have access to better resources. However, this explanation is mitigated by other research demonstrating that wealth does not influence academic achievement any more than parents’ educational level.

The second explanation focuses on cultural factors. Academic achievement is likely to be influenced differently by these factors through subculture values that promote or hinder academic achievement. For instance, parents’ cultural participation contributes to their children’s academic achievement over and above parents’ occupational status.

The third explanation involves the role played by schools likely to intervene in the relationship between social/cultural background and student academic achievement (equal opportunities). Along the same line, educational institutions may be the driving force behind reducing the extent of social reproduction between generations (social inequalities), thus becoming a major source of social mobility. Conversely, they may contribute to creating discrepancies among students, thus becoming a source of educational and social inequalities.

Methodology
Data used in this study were drawn from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) collected in 2000 with 15-year-old students living in thirty countries. Reading performance and six professional categories of the father’s occupational status were considered in this study.

Main Results
Data analysis demonstrated that the extent of the relationship between the father’s occupational status and academic achievement varied from one country to the next. This relationship was stronger in certain countries such as Mexico, Switzerland, Hungary and Portugal and weaker in others such as Canada, Finland, Norway and Korea.

Analysis of each country’s situation demonstrated that socio-economic inequalities observed in education were more related to school system modernization and organization indicators than to economic development and social inequality indicators. The more countries modernized their school systems, the more socio-economic inequalities tended to decline in importance.

Furthermore, cultural factors such as the number of books at home and the number of educational material resources available such as a dictionary, study desk and calculator, both appeared to influence the relationship between the father’s occupational status and academic achievement. In most countries, cultural factors had slightly more significant influence than material resources. However, possession of educational material seemed to contribute more to academic achievement than family income.

With regard to educational institutions, results revealed that selection to school tracks and the age students are allocated to tracks did not result in the reproduction of social inequalities in every country. It all depends on whether the process of students’ selection towards educational tracks is based on academic performance rather than social class and the time transition towards educational tracks occurs during schooling (transition age).

Key Words :
Social Classes, International Comparisons, Sociology of Education, Culture, Social Inequalities, Social Differentiation, Occupational Status, School Role, School Setting, Reading, PISA, Literature Review, Quantitative Analysis, Secondary/High School, Newsletter5

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