3.3.2

Social Class & Education

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Social Class and Educational Achievement

According to studies, socio-economic class (one's position in a society’s hierarchy based on financial status), is one of the main predictors of educational attainment.

Marx and Weber

Marx and Weber

  • Marx claimed that people are divided into:
    • Those who own the means of production (bourgeoisie).
    • Those who don’t and are the labour force for the bourgeoisie (proletariat).
  • Weber argued that owning capital is an indication of your class, but other factors like education and status also contribute to class.
Socioeconomic class and education

Socioeconomic class and education

  • Working class pupils tend to do worse in relation to their middle-class counterparts.
  • Sociologists use pupils who are entitled to free school meals (FSM) as a measure of social class.
FSM

FSM

  • Research indicates that pupils who are eligible for FSM:
    • Don’t reach the expected level at Key Stage 2.
    • Are usually put in lower bands and sets.
    • Do less well in exams (SATs, GCSEs).
    • Are less likely to attend further and higher education.
Government and FSM

Government and FSM

  • The government tries to support these FSM pupils through an educational policy called pupil premium.
  • This provides extra funding to state schools to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

Halsey et al. (1980)

Halsey et al. found clear class inequalities in education.

Halsey et al.

Halsey et al.

  • Halsey et al. based their research on a sample of over 8,000 males born between 1913 and 1952.
  • They found there were clear class inequalities in education.
The sample

The sample

  • The sample was divided into three main groups (based on the father’s occupation):
    • The service class (professionals, administrators and managers.)
    • The intermediate class (clerical or sales workers, the self-employed, and lower grade technicians and foremen.)
    • The working class (including manual workers in industry and agriculture.)
Findings

Findings

  • The authors found that an individual from the service class, as compared to one from the working class, had four times as great a chance of being at school at 16, eight times the chance at 17 and ten times the chance at 18.
Findings cont.

Findings cont.

  • The chance of an individual from the service class attending university was eleven times greater than one from the working class.
Criticisms

Criticisms

  • They have been criticised because it was only males who took part in the research meaning that the sample isn’t representative of the population.
Jump to other topics
1

The Sociological Approach

1.1

Introduction to Sociology

1.1.1What is Sociology?1.1.2Culture & Socialisation
1.2

Sociological Approaches

1.2.1Marxism1.2.2Marxism 21.2.3Functionalism1.2.4Feminism
1.3

The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.1The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate1.3.2End of Topic Test - The Sociological Approach
2

Families

2.1

Functions of Families

2.1.1Functionalist Views on Family2.1.2Marxist Views on Family2.1.3Feminist Views on Family
2.2

Family Forms

2.2.1What is a Family?2.2.2Nuclear Family2.2.3Families in a Global Context2.2.4The Rapoports & Family Diversity2.2.5Causes of Family Diversity2.2.6End of Topic Test - Family Forms
2.3

Conjugal Role Relationships

2.3.1Conjugal Roles
2.4

Changing Relationships Within Families

2.4.1Timeline2.4.2Domestic Abuse2.4.3Symmetrical Family
2.5

Criticisms of Families

2.5.1Functionalist Views of Families2.5.2Marxist Views of Families2.5.3Feminist Views of Families2.5.4Declining Marriage Rate2.5.5End of Topic Test - Criticisms of Families
2.6

Divorce

2.6.1Reasons For Rise in Divorce Rate2.6.2Consequences of Divorce2.6.3Functionalist Views2.6.4Marxist Views2.6.5Feminist Views2.6.6End of Topic Test - Divorce
3

Education

3.1

Roles & Functions of Education

3.1.1The Functionalist Approach3.1.2Evaluating Different Perspectives3.1.3Types of School3.1.4Alternative Education3.1.5State & Private Schools
3.2

Processes Within Schools

3.2.1Internal Processes3.2.2External Processes
3.3

Educational Achievement

3.3.1Measuring Educational Success3.3.2Social Class & Education3.3.3Social Class & External Factors3.3.4Gender & Education3.3.5Ethnicity & Education3.3.6Parental Choice3.3.7History of UK Education Policy3.3.8Recent UK Education Policy3.3.9End of Topic Test - Education
4

Crime & Deviance

4.1

The Social Construction of Crime

4.1.1Defining Crime & Deviance4.1.2Sociological Explanations of Crime4.1.3Interactionist Explanations of Crime4.1.4Alternative Explanations of Crime
4.2

Social Control

4.2.1Informal Social Control4.2.2Formal Social Control4.2.3End of Topic Test - Social Construction of Crime
4.3

Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

4.3.1Explanations of Crime4.3.2Social Class & Crime4.3.3Gender & Crime4.3.4Ethnicity & Crime4.3.5Age & Crime4.3.6Criminal Responsibility4.3.7The Prison System4.3.8Media Reporting of Crime4.3.9Functionalist Explanations of Crime
4.4

Data on Crime

4.4.1Measuring Crime4.4.2End of Topic Test - Criminal & Deviant Behaviour
5

Social Stratification

5.1

Social Stratification

5.1.1What is Social Stratification?5.1.2Functionalism5.1.3Socio-Economic Class5.1.4Socio-Economic Class 25.1.5Life Chances5.1.6The Affluent Worker5.1.7End of Topic Test - Social Stratifictaion
5.2

Poverty as a Social Issue

5.2.1Defining Poverty5.2.2Factors Affecting Poverty5.2.3Explanations of Poverty5.2.4Impact of Globalisation5.2.5End of Topic Test - Poverty as a Social Issue
5.3

Power & Authority

5.3.1Weber5.3.2Sociological Perspectives5.3.3Power Relationships5.3.4End of Topic Test - Power & Authority
6

Sociological Research Methods

6.1

Research Methods

6.1.1Research Design6.1.2The Scientific Method6.1.3Other Considerations6.1.4Primary Sources6.1.5Secondary Sources6.1.6Surveys6.1.7Sampling6.1.8Questionnaires6.1.9Interviews6.1.10Observation6.1.11Statistics6.1.12Case Studies6.1.13Longitudinal Studies6.1.14Ethnography6.1.15Experiments6.1.16Small Scale Research6.1.17End of Topic Test - Research Methods

Practice questions on Social Class & Education

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    Marx claims that there are two groups of people:Fill in the list
  2. 2
    What does research tell us about pupils who are eligible for FSM (free school meals)?True / false
  3. 3
    The government tries to support FSM (free school meal) pupils via an educational policy. What is this policy called?Multiple choice
  4. 4
    Why was the study conducted by Halsey et al. criticised as not being representative of the population?Multiple choice
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Measuring Educational Success

Social Class & External Factors