30219

WiSe 16/17: Social Inequalities in Education – Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Evidence

Camilla Borgna/Paula Protsch

Information for students

Contact: camilla.borgna@wzb.eu; paula.protsch@wzb.eu Office Hours: by appointment, please contact us by email

Additional information / Pre-requisites

Requirements: -Regular and active participation - Preparation of each session by reading the seminar texts and formulation of related questions - One term paper (3000 words) or three essays (1000 words each) close

Comments

A good education is a tremendously important individual resource for future opportunities in life and of high value in its own right. Success in school, however, strongly depends on individual abilities, social background factors, and the country one lives in. We will discuss theoretical work by Pierre Bourdieu, a conflict approach, and Raymond Boudon, a rational choice approach. Many current empirical studies on social inequalities in education are based on their ideas. Moreover, we will consider different concepts of educational inequalities and clarify what is meant by inequality of opportunities and inequality of outcomes and why it is important to clearly differentiate between the two. In addition to parental socio-economic status, gender and ethnicity are strong determinants of educational attainment (i.e., the qualifications and certificates obtained) and educational achievement (i.e., the skills and knowledge actually acquired), as well as of successful transitions from school to work. The course readings will cover quantitative empirical findings from different countries and take on a comparative perspective. In the final part of the seminar, we will look at emerging studies on educational success against the odds, that is, on educational success of less privileged children which, from the well-known theoretical perspectives, would be a rather unexpected outcome. close

16 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Wed, 18:00 - 20:00 B002/003, WZB (Reichpietschufer 50) 16 Class schedule

Wed, 2016-10-19 18:00 - 20:00

B002/003, WZB (Reichpietschufer 50)