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WiSe 20/21: Inequalities in Educational Transitions and Outcomes

Anne Christine Holtmann & Paula Protsch

Comments

Parental socio-economic status (SES) matters for their children’s educational outcomes and transitions. Whereas this is finding is well-established, it is less clear why this is so and how the effects of family background are mediated and moderated by welfare state policies and social contexts such as schools and neighbourhoods. From a policy perspective, it is an important question how schools and social policies affect educational inequalities and how the opportunities of disadvantaged children can be improved. Against this background, the seminar will focus on three interrelated sets of questions. First, which theoretical explanations or “mechanisms” might account for the relationship between family background and educational outcomes? Second, how can we measure and describe the extent to which parental SES affects children’s education? Third, why are educational opportunities more equal in some countries than in others? A major focus of the seminar will be on the difficulties of identifying the (causal) effects of different explanatory factors and on research strategies for overcoming them. For example, identifying the impact of school environments on the opportunities of young people is difficult because richer and more educated families not only have more financial and cultural resources that allow them to better support their children at home; they also send their children to better schools. We will discuss whether and how it is possible to identify causal effects of schools, neighbourhoods, or social policies on educational opportunities, compare different research designs, and develop our own research ideas. After this course, students should be able to critically evaluate the literature on educational inequalities. They will know relevant datasets and empirical approaches and should be able to develop their own research design to study the (re-)production of educational inequalities. close