Inequality/difference in education: is a real explanation of primary and secondary effects possible?

The persistence of social disparities in educational achievement in contemporary societies is a matter of concern to social theory. Sociology of education has distinguished between the primary and secondary effects of socialization in order to construct explanatory theories of inequality of educational opportunity. Empirical evidence from the recent OECD PISA research is analysed to suggest that causes of the primary effect are the most important. The case is made with close reference to Goldthorpe's attempt to provide a rational action model of social disparities in education. An approach informed by scientific realism is held to offer a more adequate explanation.     

Viewing Adolescents' Career Futures Through the Lenses of Socioeconomic Status and Social Class

This study examined socioeconomic status (SES) and perceived social class as predictors of educational and occupational aspirations and expectations in a sample of 100 high school students from 2 midwestern high schools. SES was measured using caregivers' occupation and education, and subjective social status was assessed using the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status–Youth Version (Goodman et al., 2001 SES and perceived social class made independent contributions to educational aspirations, whereas SES made an independent contribution to occupational aspirations and expectations. The authors discuss the importance of SES and social class in career development theory and research and provide practical implications based on the present findings. Overall, this study highlights the importance of measuring SES and social class as distinct constructs and the need for future work to identify the unique impacts of these variables.     

Presence and competences of social workers in Spanish educational centres. Laws vs. reality. A research approach

ABSTRACT

In Spain, School Social Work has had an uneven, non-linear record, with periods of stagnation. This situation still takes place nowadays, partly due to the lack of regulation of their competences and functions, and, above all, due to the fact that the figure of the social worker is not well settled in educational centres yet. The purpose of this article is to find out whether the figure of the social worker has been correctly incorporated into the educational system, as well as to assess the regulation of their competences and functions for the best development of their professional duties. The base of this article is the information obtained from a national ad hoc research, using as data collection technique a structured and self-administered online questionnaire designed by the author and distributed to social workers through 36 professional associations, thanks to the coordination with the Social Work National Council in Spain. Finally, a sample of 146 cases has been obtained. The conclusions show an approximation to the current actual reality of the professional exercise of social workers within the Spanish educational system and, in particular, to the strengths and weaknesses for an effective exercise of their competences and skills according to regulations which include and protect their professional activity.     

El Miedo y El Hambre: Understanding the Familial,Social, and Educational Realities of Undocumented Latino Families in North Central Indiana

This study explored how different ecological factors, within and outside the family, affected the educational success of the children of undocumented families. The sample consisted of 63 immigrant Latino parents (40 families) who resided in North Central Indiana. This study utilized an ethnographic research design. Findings demonstrated that immigration laws were affecting the educational success of the children of undocumented families. Most parents expressed lack of familiarity of the American educational system and that they had culture and language barriers. Findings also demonstrated that undocumented families were adapting to their realities, as a result of the resiliency in their families and communities. Implications for practice and future research were provided.     

School tracking and its role in social reproduction: reinforcing educational inheritance and the direct effects of social origin

The degree of social reproduction varies considerably between industrialized countries, raising the question of which institutional regulations promote or restrict this process. Education is considered the main mediator of social reproduction. Because school tracking – the sorting of children according to ability and interest at different ages – is known to affect educational attainment and the degree of tracking varies strongly across countries, it may thus account for differences in social reproduction. However, empirical studies are scarce, and the total impact of tracking on social reproduction remains ambiguous. Using the European Social Survey (ESS) 2012 and 2014 from 24 countries, we demonstrate that school tracking is strongly associated with higher degrees of social reproduction. Decomposing the process of social reproduction into educational inheritance, educational returns and direct effects of social origin, we find that although all channels contribute to social reproduction, the impact of tracking seems to be exerted through educational inheritance and to a similar degree through direct effects of social origin, whereas educational returns do not seem to be affected. Even net of educational attainment, social origin thus has a stronger effect on social status in tracked systems. We ascribe this effect to differences in qualitative choices within educational tracks, such as fields of study.     

Divorce, Educational Attainment, and the Earnings Mobility of Sons

This article uses matched pairs of sons and their parents from the National Longitudinal Surveys: Old Cohort Databases to investigate the relationship between the marital history of parents, educational attainment, and intergenerational correlations in earnings. The research indicates that patterns of intergenerational earnings mobility vary with divorce. Sons from families whose divorced parents had relatively low earnings have a greater chance of having low earnings themselves. The research also shows that much of the variation in earnings mobility can be explained by lower educational attainment for children from divorced families. This finding highlights the importance of designing policies to assist the educational attainment of those most likely to be affected by divorce.     

Issues of educational support in primary school and secondary education in disadvantaged suburbs in France

From a critical sociological perspective, this article advances the debate between global schooling with political incentives and local meanings with localized educational practices and supports. It focuses on the role of education policies in the pursuit of social inclusion and social justice, but also shows how local actors adapt and experiment in managing the socio-cultural diversity of the students and the school contexts. First, I show the issues of educational support policies in the French context with a historical background and their re-appropriation by local actors. Second, I present the theoretical framework of my research (2008 to 2013), the methodology and initial results. Last, I analyze the main qualitative results of my comparative research in order to highlight ‘good’ or ‘bad’ educational support practices according to various criteria, starting with interactional socio-cultural posture between different actors.     

In search of the mechanisms conducive to class differentials in educational choice: a mixed method research

This paper inquires into the mechanisms conducive to social class differentials in educational choice in Flanders (the Northern, Dutch‐speaking part of Belgium) using both quantitative data gathered from parents (N = 1339) and qualitative data gathered during two focus groups with pupils (N = 16). Unlike most of the previous studies, this study takes into consideration all three theoretical perspectives that have driven research on class differentials in educational choice so far, namely cultural reproduction theory, rational action theory and the notion of social capital. Logistic regression analysis shows that self‐selection does also occur in Flanders and that the effect of parental SES cannot be explained by a specific measure of cultural capital centred on knowledge of the educational system, nor by measures of social capital. What emerges most clearly from this study is that pupils' perception of their choice process is powerfully framed by deep‐rooted conceptions about the educational alternatives available to them. Furthermore, children's choices seem to be delimited by parents' opinions of which educational alternatives were acceptable, and which ones not. Our study calls for future research to take the wider context of decision‐making processes more explicitly into account.     

Social class background and gender‐(a)typical choices of fields of study in higher education

By employing a Bourdieu‐inspired class scheme that differentiates between classes’ volume and composition of capital, and by analysing Norwegian administrative register data for birth cohorts between 1987 and 1992, this paper examines the relationship between social class background and gender‐(a)typical choices of higher education. Fields of study in higher education in much of the Western world remain segregated by gender despite the gender gap in educational attainment having been reversed. However, some changes have taken place due to the influx of women into male‐dominated, high‐status fields. Few recent studies have examined the relationship between social class background and gendered educational choices in light of these changes; furthermore, the focus of previous research has been limited to the vertical dimension of class. The results presented in this article suggest that men and women are more likely to make gender‐atypical choices when this leads to social mobility and that focusing solely on the vertical dimension of class may mask horizontal differences.     

Club forms of activities and creation of educational environment promoting the development of social work students

ABSTRACT

The article presents research on extracurricular forms of club activity as one of the important components of educational activity of social work students at University of Ruse, Bulgaria. The purpose of the research is to identify the impact of this type of extracurricular activity on the formation of positive attitudes towards people of different ethnic background and towards persons with disabilities, stimulating their cognitive, professional and social development. A sample has been formed and research tools have been used that is consistent to the purpose and specificity of the research. The results of the statistical processing of empirical data and their analysis confirm the accepted purpose. They reveal the role and importance of extracurricular forms of club activity to create an interactive learning environment and conditions that form positive attitudes towards the target groups and stimulate students: integrate acquired values, knowledge, skills into curriculum activities with practical experience and detailed information about outside groups; consciously and motivated to includes in equal, tolerant and non-discriminatory interactions in different interpersonal systems; to enhance their cultural competence; to appreciate diversity in the community and society. In synthesis, the presented aspects contribute to the cognitive, professional and social development of social work students.     

The Relationship between High School Sector and Educational Success: Focusing on the Social Background of Private High School Students

This study investigates the influence of high school sector on educational success in Japan. A range of previous research on disparities among high schools has revealed that high school rank (based on the academic ability of pupils, etc.) originated from the democratization of high school. However, given that the democratization of high school is supported by private high schools, high school sector may become a factor for high school ranking. The data used for the analysis are the 2005 National Survey of Social Stratification and Social Mobility (SSM) in Japan. The results indicate that students who enter private high schools have lower academic ability than students who enter public high schools. By contrast, private high school students have greater educational success than public high school students. Moreover, this study reveals that private high school students are generally from a higher social class than public high school students. Given that the use of entrance examinations for private junior high schools has been increasing since the 1990s, in the future, the effect of private schools on educational success may become stronger in not only high schools but also junior high schools. This study thus emphasizes the importance of paying greater attention to the relationship between educational success and the private and public school sectors.     

Inclusive education: an examination of school relationships and student interactions

The aim of this paper is to examine inclusive education in multicultural contexts from an interaction networks perspective. The paper is based on the idea that inclusive education can be better understood by studying how native and non-native students interact, and what kinds of networks they establish in school. To do so, we assume two premises: (a) class-group dynamics can have a socially inclusive impact and (b) the composition of classroom social networks often plays a significant role in educational achievement, especially in classes with students with different cultural backgrounds. Starting from these premises, we firstly discuss the relevance of research and theory on social and personal networks regarding both social inclusion and academic performance. We subsequently review recent literature on ‘social support’ as a factor that is directly related to the inclusion of minority cultural groups in school. We then discuss the importance of the relationships developed among them and their influence on academic performance. School relationships – student networks in and out of school and classroom dynamics – can be developed and shaped in many different ways and across numerous opportunities to enhance educational performance in inclusive multicultural environments.     

The paradoxical role of social class background in the educational and labour market outcomes of the children of immigrants in the UK

Despite predominantly lower social class origins, the second generation of established immigrant groups in the UK are now attaining high levels of education. However, they continue to experience poorer labour market outcomes than the majority population. These worse outcomes are often attributed in part to their disadvantaged origins, which do not, by contrast, appear to constrain their educational success. This paper engages with this paradox. We discuss potential mechanisms for second-generation educational success and how far we might expect these to be replicated in labour market outcomes. We substantiate our discussion with new empirical analysis. Drawing on a unique longitudinal study of England and Wales spanning 40 years and encompassing one per cent of the population, we present evidence on the educational and labour market outcomes of the second generation of four groups of immigrants and the white British majority, controlling for multiple measures of social origins. We demonstrate that second-generation men and women's educational advantage is only partially reflected in the labour market. We reflect on the implications of our findings for future research.     

Exploring narratives of education: disabled young people’s experiences of educational institutions in Ghana

Disabled young people in many low and middle-income countries experience significant levels of educational exclusion due to disabling social and physical environments and are more likely to be illiterate than their non-disabled peers. Most social sciences and development literature, however, tends to homogenise the educational trajectories of disabled young people and focuses predominantly on the perspectives of educationalists, development experts and carers in assessing educational needs and institutions. Consequently, the experiences of young people across multiple categories of social difference, and their agency in shaping their own educational trajectories, remain largely unknown. This article contributes to filling this gap by exploring the educational narratives of young people with different impairments in mainstream, special and integrated schools in Ghana. The article shows how exploring individual narratives provides new insights into the educational needs of and ‘appropriate’ education for disabled young people in the Global South.     

Power of Teen Motherhood in Predicting Later Educational Attainment

Abstract

This article investigates the power of teen motherhood in predicting later educational attainment. Data for mothers are extracted from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79). Findings show that teen motherhood is inversely related to later educational attainment. Poverty, welfare receipt and the number of children have a direct influence on later educational attainment. Employment, the age of the woman at the time of her first marriage, and being married currently, had a direct positive influence on educational attainment. The implications for social work practice are discussed.     

Social class and approaches to shaping educational expectations

Scholars have recognized young people's educational expectations as a key factor in predicting educational outcomes, but few studies have attempted a comprehensive classification of how young people's educational expectations are shaped. In this article, I outline a typology of how young people from different social class origins shape their educational expectations. Drawing on 100 interviews with 15-year-olds, I find two underlying dimensions in young people's accounts of their educational expectations: how risk aware they are and how goal oriented they are. These dimensions translate into a heuristic model for understanding the structure of young people's educational expectations. I identify four major approaches to shaping educational expectations - the confident, the determined, the explorative, and the anxious - and show how these approaches connect to the young people's class origin. The typology of approaches offers a conceptual framework for understanding the mechanisms that lead young people to shape their expectations in qualitatively different ways.     

Parental education, children's performance and the transition to higher secondary education: trends in primary and secondary effects over five Dutch school cohorts (1965–99)

According to Boudon, social background affects educational transitions as a result of differences in children's academic performance (primary effects) and differences in transition probabilities given children's level of academic performance (secondary effects). This study addresses historical changes in both primary and secondary effects on the educational transition from primary school to higher secondary education in the Netherlands. In addition, it considers changes over time in the relative importance of these effects. The study compares five cohorts of Dutch pupils, specifically those enrolling in secondary education in 1965, 1977, 1989, 1993 and 1999, and it employs counterfactual analyses. The main findings are that secondary effects have been stable and primary effects have fluctuated to some extent. As a result, the proportion of the total effect of social background accounted for by primary effects has increased somewhat, from 53 per cent to 58 per cent.     

Social Networking Among Health Sciences University Students: Examining Social Network Usage,Social Support,and General Well-Being

Social network sites (SNSs) are organized around users who join an internet network to engage in daily discussions and postings. Though research informs us about SNSs usage, no published research addresses the use of social network sites among health science professionals. This study examined the relationship between social network usage, social support, and general well-being among undergraduate and graduate students. This study provides results that identify significant relationships (p < .001) associated with SNS usage and the variables of social support and general well-being among this study population. These results can inform the use of SNSs in university health sciences educational programs.     

Self‐Construal,Career Decision Self‐Efficacy,and Perceived Barriers Predict Mexican American Women's Life Satisfaction

This study used the social cognitive theory of well‐being (SCTW; Lent, 2004 ) to examine the role of career decision self‐efficacy (CDSE), perceived educational barriers, and independent self‐construal on the life satisfaction of 176 Mexican American college women. A 3‐step hierarchical regression analysis indicated that independent self‐construal, CDSE, and fewer perceived educational barriers significantly predicted greater life satisfaction among Mexican American college women above and beyond the influence of socioeconomic status and generational status. These findings are consistent with SCTW and highlight the need for counselors and researchers to be aware of the role that self‐construal, CDSE, and perceived educational barriers can have on Mexican American women's life satisfaction. Implications for practice at the secondary‐school and university levels are discussed.