Rachel Dearlove reviews a volume that provides insight into how difficult the coalition may find keeping its promise of equality when it comes to radical change in the higher education system

Dearlove, Rachel

English

LSE Research Online

blogs.lse.ac.uk http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/2011/06/19/book-review -grow ing-gaps-educational-inequality-around-the-w orld/Book Review: Growing Gaps: Educational Inequality AroundThe WorldBlog AdminRachel Dearlove reviews a volume that provides insight into how difficult the coalition may find keeping itspromise of equality when it comes to radical change in the higher education system.Growing Gaps: Educational Inequality Around The World. Edited by Paul Attewell and Katherine S.Newman. Oxford University Press. December 2010.Paul Attewell, a professor of sociology and urban education at City University of NewYork, drew attention in the USA in 2009 for his Passing the Torch: Does HigherEducation for the Disadvantaged Pay Off Across the Generations? (co-authored withDavid E. Lavin). In this volume he has come together with the distinguished andwidely published Katherine S. Newman, sociologist of poverty and the working poor,to bring together a collection of 12 case studies. The collection has grown out ofPrinceton University’s ‘Global Network on Inequality’ – an annual conference of 25international research institutions engaged in research on the causes,consequences and remedies for inequality. The authors examine the paradox that isthe persistence of social inequality despite, in the case of the countries considered,almost universalised access to primary, secondary and in the case of South Korea,tertiary education.Attewell’s introductory chapter provides a neat  synopsis of major theories of therelationship between education and occupational and material success, including regime theory which formsthe theoretical lens for many of the subsequent chapters. Attewell also skilfully summarises the problemswhich societies face when an expansion which has sought to broaden access has in fact reproduced socialinequality. Rather than being a global panacea, this volume demonstrates how educational expansion canand already has resulted in simply a different system through which inequalities are reproduced.The chapters draw their analyses, with one exception, from large scale existing quantitative data sets. Therather data heavy presentations lost the attention and understanding of this lay reader at times, leaving afeeling of occasionally missing the message – particularly with regard to Malcolm Keswell’s chapter oneducation and racial inequality in South Africa. Despite this, the case studies, still provide useful evidence.Given the radical changes in progress with regard to higher education in the UK, and the coalitiongovernment’s promises that in the new system equality is still a policy priority, this volume provides insightinto how difficult it might be to keep that promise.Kwang-Yeong Shin and Byoung-Hoon Lee’s insight into the truly mass higher education participation systemin South Korea – where the tertiary enrolment rate stands at 85% – is a perfect example of ‘more does notalways equal better’ for equality. South Korea massively expanded its higher education provision in the1980s and 1990s – but only 25 out of 175 universities are public and competition to get into the best isfierce. With social status and financial security tied to educational achievement, the authors suggest thateducational competition becomes “a marathon race from pre-school to high school”. Middle class parentsare in the best situation to provide the private resources and operate the best strategy which will steer theirchildren into the ‘right’ middle school, high school and university. The authors argue that “remarkable classdifferentials in educational attainment indicate that unequal opportunity is an institutional principle of theSouth Korean education system” despite such wide participation.Louis Chauvel and Pawevl Polawski look at the phenomenon of over-education in two radically differentsocieties – France and Poland, respectively. Chauvel argues for the disputed long term ‘scarring’ effects ofintergenerational inequality on the post-baby boomers of France – who have had their social mobility andquality of life sacrificed to maintain the standard of living of the generation before, leaving themovereducated and underemployed. Polawski explores the mismatch between education and labour marketneeds in Poland leaving the current generation feeling that they have been mis-sold a form of working lifeand a ‘graduate premium’ which has not materialised.So will the middle classes in the UK continue to be the best at ‘playing the game’ in the new educationalreality? Will some end up ‘middle class losers’ like Yi-Lee Wong’s subjects in Hong Kong? Will the currentgeneration be left ‘scarred’ by being excluded from university and/or excluded from the workplace in such acompetitive employment market? Will an increased personal financial investment in higher education underthe new fee regime end with anger and disappointment if a better working life does not materialise at theend? Prediction is difficult, but this volume shows that a great deal of evidence is already out there.Rachel Dearlove is a university manager with a special interest in international education.Find this book at:  Google Books Amazon LSE Library

Book review: growing gaps: educational inequality around the world

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