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.

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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.
Illustrative background for Socioeconomic class and educationIllustrative background for Socioeconomic class and education ?? "content

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.
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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.
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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.

Illustrative background for Halsey et al. Illustrative background for Halsey et al. ?? "content

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.
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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.)
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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.
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Findings cont.

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

1The Sociological Approach

1.1Introduction to Sociology

1.1.1What is Sociology?

1.1.2Culture & Socialisation

1.2Sociological Approaches

1.2.1Marxism

1.2.2Marxism 2

1.2.3Functionalism

1.2.4Feminism

1.3The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.1The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.2End of Topic Test - The Sociological Approach

2Families

2.1Functions of Families

2.1.1Functionalist Views on Family

2.1.2Marxist Views on Family

2.1.3Feminist Views on Family

2.2Family Forms

2.2.1What is a Family?

2.2.2Nuclear Family

2.2.3Families in a Global Context

2.2.4The Rapoports & Family Diversity

2.2.5Causes of Family Diversity

2.2.6End of Topic Test - Family Forms

2.3Conjugal Role Relationships

2.3.1Conjugal Roles

2.4Changing Relationships Within Families

2.4.1Timeline

2.4.2Domestic Abuse

2.4.3Symmetrical Family

2.5Criticisms of Families

2.5.1Functionalist Views of Families

2.5.2Marxist Views of Families

2.5.3Feminist Views of Families

2.5.4Declining Marriage Rate

2.5.5End of Topic Test - Criticisms of Families

2.6Divorce

2.6.1Reasons For Rise in Divorce Rate

2.6.2Consequences of Divorce

2.6.3Functionalist Views

2.6.4Marxist Views

2.6.5Feminist Views

2.6.6End of Topic Test - Divorce

3Education

3.1Roles & Functions of Education

3.1.1The Functionalist Approach

3.1.2Evaluating Different Perspectives

3.1.3Types of School

3.1.4Alternative Education

3.1.5State & Private Schools

3.2Processes Within Schools

3.2.1Internal Processes

3.2.2External Processes

3.3Educational Achievement

3.3.1Measuring Educational Success

3.3.2Social Class & Education

3.3.3Social Class & External Factors

3.3.4Gender & Education

3.3.5Ethnicity & Education

3.3.6Parental Choice

3.3.7History of UK Education Policy

3.3.8Recent UK Education Policy

3.3.9End of Topic Test - Education

4Crime & Deviance

4.1The Social Construction of Crime

4.1.1Defining Crime & Deviance

4.1.2Sociological Explanations of Crime

4.1.3Interactionist Explanations of Crime

4.1.4Alternative Explanations of Crime

4.2Social Control

4.2.1Informal Social Control

4.2.2Formal Social Control

4.2.3End of Topic Test - Social Construction of Crime

4.3Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

4.3.1Explanations of Crime

4.3.2Social Class & Crime

4.3.3Gender & Crime

4.3.4Ethnicity & Crime

4.3.5Age & Crime

4.3.6Criminal Responsibility

4.3.7The Prison System

4.3.8Media Reporting of Crime

4.3.9Functionalist Explanations of Crime

4.4Data on Crime

4.4.1Measuring Crime

4.4.2End of Topic Test - Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

5Social Stratification

5.1Social Stratification

5.1.1What is Social Stratification?

5.1.2Functionalism

5.1.3Socio-Economic Class

5.1.4Socio-Economic Class 2

5.1.5Life Chances

5.1.6The Affluent Worker

5.1.7End of Topic Test - Social Stratifictaion

5.2Poverty as a Social Issue

5.2.1Defining Poverty

5.2.2Factors Affecting Poverty

5.2.3Explanations of Poverty

5.2.4Impact of Globalisation

5.2.5End of Topic Test - Poverty as a Social Issue

5.3Power & Authority

5.3.1Weber

5.3.2Sociological Perspectives

5.3.3Power Relationships

5.3.4End of Topic Test - Power & Authority

6Sociological Research Methods

6.1Research Methods

6.1.1Research Design

6.1.2The Scientific Method

6.1.3Other Considerations

6.1.4Primary Sources

6.1.5Secondary Sources

6.1.6Surveys

6.1.7Sampling

6.1.8Questionnaires

6.1.9Interviews

6.1.10Observation

6.1.11Statistics

6.1.12Case Studies

6.1.13Longitudinal Studies

6.1.14Ethnography

6.1.15Experiments

6.1.16Small Scale Research

6.1.17End of Topic Test - Research Methods

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Measuring Educational Success

Social Class & External Factors