Study title

The twentieth century saw significant educational expansion and reform in all Western societies. Within this context, sociological interest has focussed on the determinants of educational attainment, and particularly on the influence of social background. This project will examine whether class, ethnic and sex inequalities in educational attainment have changed over time in Britain. It will consider the relative importance of performance and choice in the creation of class inequalities in educational attainment. Previous research has indicated that even if previous educational performance is held constant, children of more advantaged background will more often choose to stay on in full-time education, or to take more ambitious courses than will children of less advantaged background. The project will examine the relative importance of performance and choice in the creation of class, ethnic and sex inequalities in entry to A-level and university education. Interest is in studying how far inequalities have changed over time, and whether the relative importance of performance and choice in creating these inequalities changes over time. The project is based on the statistical analysis of large-scale, nationally representative datasets. It is part of a comparative study, comparing educational inequalities in four European societies (Britain, France, Germany and Sweden).