Educational Inequality, Educational Expansion and Intergenerational Mobility

Abstract

The distribution of education by social background and the mobility prospects of society are intimately connected. To begin to predict future trends in mobility in the UK we bring together evidence on educational inequality by family background for cohorts from 1958 to 2000 for a range of educational outcomes. There is evidence that educational inequalities have narrowed among recent cohorts as the overall level of educational achievement has increased. This could be promising for mobility provided the labour market returns to these qualifications are maintained. However, stubborn inequalities by background at higher attainment levels imply that narrowing inequalities and expanding equality of opportunity throughout the educational distribution is a difficult task.

Linking the macro to the micro: a multidimensional approach to educational inequalities in four European countries

“…With the other two countries, while some decline may have occurred at the upper secondary threshold, at the tertiary threshold social inequalities in educational attainment appear very persistent (see further for Britain, Blanden andMacmillan 2016, andfor Germany, Blossfeld et al 2015).…”

Social reproduction strategies: Understanding compound inequality in the intergenerational transfer of capital, assets and resources

“…Lucas (2001) argues that learner considerations in educational decision making may reflect a strategy of ‘Effectively Maintained Inequality’, where higher status households respond to changes in average levels of education by either extending their educational engagement, or adjusting in some more nuanced way to accentuate advantages associated with, for example, educational institution or the choice of subjects studied. The literature on UK educational investment notes this as a crucial explanation for observed reductions in social fluidity (Blanden & Macmillan 2016). Looking at evidence from the United States, we suggest that these household SRS may be adjusting to perceived inequalities and uncertainties in ways that generate increased inequality into the future.…”

Is ‘first in family’ a good indicator for widening university participation?

“…A body of literature has established the importance of higher education (HE) in achieving social mobility (Blanden and Macmillan 2016;Chetty et al 2014) and a range of positive life outcomes (Oreopoulos and Petronijevic 2013). At the same time, there is a large evidence base that university participation and graduation is graded by socioeconomic status, with individuals from advantaged backgrounds more likely to attend and complete university than their peers from disadvantaged backgrounds (Blanden and Machin 2004;Britton et al 2016;Walker and Zhu 2018).…”