Social Stratification and Education: Case Studies Analysing Social Survey Data

Social Stratification is an enduring influence in contemporary societies which shapes many outcomes over the lifecourse. Social Stratification is also a key mechanism by which social inequalities are transmitted from one generation to the next. This thesis presents a set of inter-related case studies which explore social stratification in contemporary Britain. This thesis focuses on the analysis of an appropriate set of large scale social survey datasets, which contain detailed micro-level data. The thesis begins with a detailed review of one area of social survey research practice which has been neglected, namely the measurement and operationalisation of ‘key variables’. Three case studies are then presented which undertake original analyses using five different large-scale social survey resources. Throughout this thesis detailed consideration of the operationalisation of variables is made and a range of statistical modelling approaches are employed to address middle range theories regarding the processes of social stratification. Case study one focuses on cognitive inequalities in the early years of childhood. This case study builds on research which has indicated that social stratification impacts on the cognitive performance of young children. This chapter makes the original contribution of charting the extent of social inequalities on childhood cognitive abilities between three British birth cohorts. There are clear patterns of social inequality within each cohort. Between the cohorts there is also evidence that the association between socio-economic advantage and childhood cognitive capability have remained largely stable over the post-war period, in spite of the raft of policy measures that have been floated to tackle social inequality. Case study two investigates the recent sociological idea that there is a ‘middle’ group of young people who are absent in sociological inquiries. This chapter sets out to explore the existence of a ‘middle’ group based on their socio-economic characteristics. This case study focuses on school GCSE examination performance, and finds that performance is highly stratified by parental occupational positions. The analysis provided no persuasive evidence of the existence of a ‘middle’, mediocre or ordinary group of young people. The analytical benefits of studying the full attainment spectrum are emphasised, over a priori categorisation. Case study three combines the analysis of intra-generational and inter-generational status attainment perspectives by studying the influences of social origins, educational attainment and cognitive abilities across the occupational lifecourse. This case study tests theoretical ideas regarding the importance of these three areas of influence over time. This case study therefore presents a detailed picture of social stratification processes. The results highlight that much more variation in occupational positions is observed between individuals, rather than across an individual’s lifecourse. The influence of social origins, educational attainment and cognitive ability on occupational positions appear to decrease across an individual’s occupational lifecourse. A brief afterword that showcases a sensitivity analysis is presented at the end of the thesis. This brief exposition is provided to illustrate the potential benefit of undertaking sensitivity analyses when developing research which operationalises key variables in social stratification. It is argued that such an activity is beneficial and informative and should routinely be undertaken within sociological analyses of social surveys. The thesis concludes with a brief reflection on large-scale survey research and statistical modelling and comments on potential areas for future research

Which background factors matter more in intergenerational educational attainment: Social class, cultural capital or cognitive ability? A random effects approach

The sociological research literature on intergenerational educational attainment has highlighted three types of theoretical frameworks in explaining to what extent social origins influences people’s educational choices and possibilities. The three explanatory frameworks are 1) the socio-economic situation in the upbringing, 2) the “cultural capital” of the home (e.g. the level of education of the parents), and finally 3) the cognitive abilities of the individual. While all three explanatory frameworks have been shown empirically to be of significance in explaining people’s educational attainment when analyzed individually or two at a time, then only very few studies have simultaneously included all three frameworks and thus been able to present a coherent picture of the influence of social origins on educational attainment vis-à-vis individual ability. As a consequence very little knowledge exists on the relative significance of each of the three explanatory frameworks in explaining educational attainment when analyzed in a common, multivariate setting. Using data from the Danish Youth Longitudinal Panel Survey we analyse the relative significance of each of the proposed explanatory frameworks in explaining intergenerational educational attainment. By means of a multinomial random effects logit model we find father’s social class to be the strongest predictor of educational attainment followed by father’s level of education and finally cognitive ability. Furthermore, we find that the direct effect of father’s level of education is complex in that it to some extent is transmitted via cognitive ability and is more vulnerable to unobserved characteristics captured in the random effect.educational attainment; social mobility; multinomial logit regression; random effects model; Denmark

Girls like pink: Explaining sex-typed occupational aspirations amongst young children

There is a high degree of sex-typing in young children's occupational aspirations and this has consequences for subsequent occupational segregation. Sociologists typically attribute early sex-differences in occupational preferences to gender socialization. Yet we still know surprisingly little about the mechanisms involved in the intergenerational transmission of sex-typical preferences and there is considerable theoretical controversy regarding the role of individual agency in the process of preference formation. This study analyzes the determinants of sex-typed occupational aspirations amongst British children aged between 11 and 15. We specify different mechanisms involved in the transmission of sex-typical preferences and propose an innovative definition of individual agency that is anchored in observable psychological traits linked to self-direction. This allows us to perform a simultaneous test of socialization and agency predictors of occupational sex-typing. We find that parental influences on occupational preferences operate mainly through three distinctive channels: 1) the effect that parental socio-economic resources have on the scope of children‘s occupational aspirations, 2) children's direct imitation of parental occupations, and 3) children's learning of sex-typed roles via the observation of parental behavior. We also find a strong net effect of children's own psychological predispositions —self-esteem in particular— on the incidence of sex-typical occupational preferences. Yet large differences in the occupational aspirations of girls and boys remain unexplained.Gender segregation; occupational aspirations; children; socialization; agency; personality traits; mechanisms; british household panel survey

Social and Cultural Capital and Learners’ Cognitive Ability: Issues and Prospects for Educational Relevance, Access and Equity Towards Digital Communication in Indonesia

In the educational context, the necessity of recognizing the structure of relations among social and educational institutions by examining how individuals’ different social and cultural experiences affect the educational learning outcomes towards global digital communication. The current study examined the interplay of Social and Cultural Capital orientation, cognitive learning ability, and family background. The descriptive correlational research design was employed. It adopted two research instruments, namely the Social and Cultural Capital Questionnaire (SCCQ) and the Otis-Lennon Scholastic Ability tests (OLSAT), to a total of 377 undergraduate college students of select universities in Indonesia. The results of the study showed that the respondents manifest a high level of social and cultural capital orientation, with literacy having the highest factor. Likewise, the respondents have an average cognitive level of ability. Test of difference showed that respondents whose parents with high educational achievement exhibit high social competence, social solidarity, cultural competence, and extraversion, social solidity, and extraversion. Similarly, fathers’ education is the single variable which spelled difference on the student’s cognitive ability implying students whose fathers have high academic qualification exhibit high cognitive ability. Test of relationship showed that literacy practices and global-cultural competence are correlated to students’ cognitive ability. Finally, family income is a predictor of students’ high level of cognitive ability and social and cultural capital orientation. The implications of the results were discussed within, and suggestions were made for future research

Political, religious and occupational identities in context: Placing identity status paradigm in context

This study critically contrasts global identity with domain-specific identities (political, religious and occupational) and considers context and gender as integral parts of identity. In a cross-sectional survey, 1038 Greek Cypriot adolescents (449 boys and 589 girls, mean age 16.8) from the three different types of secondary schools (state, state technical and private) and from different SES completed part of the Extended Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status-2 (EOMEIS-2). The macrocontext of Greek Cypriot society is used to understand the role of context in adolescents’ identities. Results showed that Greek Cypriot young people were not in the same statuses across their global, political, religious and occupational identities. This heterogeneity in the status of global identity and of each identity domain is partially explained by differences in gender, type of school and SES (Socio-Economic Status). The fact that identity status is found to be reactive to context suggests that developmental stage models of identity status should place greater emphasis on context

The Role of Social Institutions in Inter-Generational Mobility

The primary goal of inter-generational mobility (IGM) research has always been to explain how and why social origins influence peoples’ life chances. This has naturally placed family attributes at centre stage. But the role of social institutions, most notably education systems, as a mediating factor has also been central to IGM theory. Indeed, generations of stratification research were premised on the core assumption that equalizing access to education would weaken the impact of social origins. In theory, policies, institutions, as well as macro-economic and historical context, have been identified as crucial in shaping patterns of social mobility (D’Addio, 2007). But apart from education, empirical research has contributed little concrete evidence on how this occurs.

Educational Assortative Mating and Children’s School Readiness

One of the concerns behind parental educational sorting is its potential to widen disparities in the ability of families to invest in their children’s development. Using data from the Fragile Families and Children Wellbeing Study, this paper investigates the association between parental educational homogamy and children’s school readiness at age 5. Our analyses reveal a positive impact of homogamy across child outcomes, most notably on socio-emotional indicators of development. Enhanced levels of parental agreement about the organization of family life and symmetry in the allocation of time to child care emerge as the intervening mechanisms behind this association. Our findings lend support to theoretical claims about the relevance of within-family social capital in the creation of human capital.Human capital, social capital, fragile families, school readiness

Omnivorousness in sport: The importance of social capital and networks

There has been for some time a significant and growing body of research around the relationship between sport and social capital. Similarly, within sociology there has been a corpus of work that has acknowledged the emergence of the omnivore–univore relationship. Surprisingly, relatively few studies examining sport and social capital have taken the omnivore–univore framework as a basis for understanding the relationship between sport and social capital. This gap in the sociology of sport literature and knowledge is rectified by this study that takes not Putnam, Coleman or Bourdieu, but Lin’s social network approach to social capital. The implications of this article are that researchers investigating sport and social capital need to understand more about how social networks and places for sport work to create social capital and, in particular, influence participating in sporting activities. The results indicate that social networks both facilitate and constrain sports participation; whilst family and friendship networks are central in active lifestyles, those who are less active have limited networks

The Sociology of the Life Course and Life Span Psychology: Integrated Paradigm or Complementing Pathways?

The psychology of the life span and the sociology of the life course share the same object of scientific inquiry - the lives of women and men from birth to death. Both are part of an interdisciplinary field focused on individual development and life course patterns which also includes social demography and human capital economics. However, a closer look shows that life span psychology and life course sociology now to stand further apart than in the seventies. In this paper we reassess how this divergence can be understood in terms of necessary and legitimate strengths of both approaches, as well as avoidable weaknesses which could be overcome in the future by more re-combination and integration.