Inequality in Education:

An equality of condition framework for addressing structural injustices Kathleen Lynch Equality Studies Centre UCD School of Social Justice

Perspectives on Equality
Basic Equality
Belief that all human beings are of equal moral worth and equally worthy of respect

Liberal Interpretations (Rawls et al.)

The focus is on individual rights, especially equal formal rights and equality of opportunity to advance educationally and become socially mobile

Critical Interpretations Equality of Condition

The focus is on making people as equal as possible in all conditions of their lives, especially in economic conditions
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Conceptualisation matters
Why the conceptualisation of the problem of inequality matters
Liberal equal opportunities policies cannot, by definition, achieve substantive changes for seriously disadvantaged groups in education What equality of opportunities policies have achieved, and will continue to achieve, is a modest level of social mobility for the relatively advantaged among the disadvantaged
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The myth of equality of opportunity without equality of condition

Equality of opportunity in education is about making sure the rules of the game are fair for distributing educational goods or privileges; The concept of social mobility, which is a core premise of equal opportunities thinking, implicitly accepts that inequality is normative Equality of condition is the belief that people should be as equal as possible in relation to the central conditions of their lives.
At a policy level, it is about eliminating major hierarchies of wealth, power and privilege so that everyone has roughly equal prospects for a good life. It does not accept that inequality is normative

Six Problems with adopting an exclusively equal opportunities (EO) view of equality
Simple, unqualified equal opportunities policies:
1. Ignore inequalities in life conditions between competitors for valued goods (education) .. there is no point in competing in a game where the same team always wins ; many will not join the game of education, or, if in the game, will not engage 2. Largely advantage the advantaged among the disadvantaged - the myth of EO for all becomes very visible in one or two generations 3. Individualise the problem of inequality - blame the victim produce a sense of relative failure
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Six Problems with adopting an exclusively equal opportunities view of equality

4. It Problematises the dominated rather than the dominant
inequality in education is relational -EO policies do not give sufficient attention to how the relatively advantaged maintain their advantage and exclude others (e.g. most formal education only gives recognition to linguistic and mathematical intelligences)

5. EO policies alone do not alter the underlying structural conditions of inequality or injustice
they merely redistribute privileges and injustices slightly differently

6. Contradictory Political Consequences

constant policy interventions are required as structural injustices remain - so inequalities are created anew in each generation and need constant re-addressing Repeated policy interventions create the perception of bias in favour of minorities/underprivileged groups net outcome is a backlash against marginalised groups and policy interventions for the vulnerable
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Review of 120 papers on inequality in education (September 2010)

Next few slides outline the findings from this review focusing on large-scale country-level studies on inequality in education in 5 countries
Papers demonstrate why we need to move beyond a simple equal opportunities model All show that social class (and in some cases ethnic/racial) inequalities in educational outcomes are pervasive The link between economic inequality and educational inequality persists in spite of within-school interventions
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France and Germany

Social background and access to third-level education
This article explores social selectivity in access to tertiary education in France and Germany in the period from 1980 to 2000. Results of multinomial logistic regression models show that access to different postsecondary institutions is characterized by marked social background effects in both countries. Depending on the type of tertiary institution we consider in France or Germany, social selectivity into fields of study is also observed. Overall, there is no indication for substantial changes in the pattern of inequality in access to tertiary education in either country during the past two decades.
Source: Duru-Bellat, M., Kieffer, A. and Reimer, D. (2008) Patterns of Social Inequalities in Access to Higher Education in France and Germany, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Vol. 49, Issue 4/5: 347368.
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Greece
Social class differences in entry to 3rd level education
.....There is evidence that with the development of new university departments and the increase in the number of university entrants in Greece, a stratified system of higher education has emerged. This study draws on quantitative data that provides evidence that choice has been driven largely by the students' social class: the close relationship between social class and educational opportunities has remained in tact. Furthermore, social inequalities in access and distribution in higher education persist, despite the substantial increase in participation in higher education.....
Source: Sianou-Kyrgiou, E. (2010) Stratification in Higher Education, Choice and Social Inequalities in Greece, Higher Education Quarterly, Vol. 64, Issue 1: 22-40.
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The Netherlands
impact of social class background on secondary school outcomes
........This paper complements findings of previous research by taking into account the tracked structure of the Dutch educational system and the entire sequence of transitions in secondary education. For the empirical analysis, repeated cross-sections from the Family Survey Dutch Population (1992, 1998, 2000 and 2003) are used. Multinomial logistic regressions reveal that inequality in the outcome of secondary education is partly explained by the fact that initial track placement is socially selective and because this initial inequality is even enhanced by track changes during secondary education. ..... Inequality in secondary school outcome thus is a cumulative result of social background effects in a sequence of educational transitions throughout secondary education
Source: Tieben, N. and Wolbers, M. (2010) Success and failure in secondary education: socio-economic background effects on secondary school outcome in the Netherlands, 1927-1998, British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 31, Issue 3: 277-290

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United States
Achievement gaps between classes and between black and white students
As social and economic stratification between black and white Americans persists at the dawn of the twenty-first century, disparities in educational outcomes remain an especially formidable barrier. Recent research on the black/white achievement gap points to a perplexing pattern in this regard. Schools appear to exacerbate black/white disparities in learning while simultaneously slowing the growth of social class gaps. How might this occur? Using 1st grade data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal StudyKindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), I testand find support forthe proposition that school factors play an elevated role in generating the black/white achievement gap while non-school factors primarily drive social class inequalities.

Source: Condron, Dennis J. (2009) Social Class, School and Non-School Environments, and Black/White Inequalities in Children's Learning, American Sociological Review, Vol. 74, Issue 5: 683-708.
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United States
social class differences in college completion
The study is based on a sample of 8901 respondents from the National Education Longitudinal Study who were first surveyed as eighth graders in 1988 and last surveyed 12 years later and who were working and not attending school at the time of the last survey. The study finds that social class background has a powerful effect on college completion. The odds of completing college for a student from a high SES background are more than six times higher than for a student from a lower social class background, even when controlling for other predictors such as test scores, grades, and college expectations. The effect of social class background on young adult earnings is more modest, but consistent with other studies. In both cases, the relationship varies widely among gender and racial and ethnic groups... Rumberger, Russell W. (2010) Education and the reproduction of economic inequality in the United States: An empirical investigation, Economics of Education Review, Vol. 29, Issue 2: 246-254.
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Immigrant children (US evidence)

1 in 5 of all under 18 year olds in the US are either immigrant or the child of immigrant parents

What explains the differences in educational performance of immigrant children? The same factors that influence native children
Differences in Socioeconomic Status of parents is still the major factor explaining differences; more significant than language (English) ability (Kao and Tienda, 1995; Portes and McCleod, 1996; Warren, 1996)
e.g. low rates of attainment among Latino children is strongly related to poverty 40% live in poverty compared to 15% of white children in the US High rates of attainment by Asians related to their higher SES status both in origin and in location in the host country (Kao, 1995; 2004)

Cultural Processes have some impact (Portes, 1999)

Motives for migration (and the human and social capital migrants bring or develop in the host society) impact on attainment

Oppositional identities develop in 2nd and 3rd generations when immigrants are alienated from the host society
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Examples of what has made a difference in reducing inequality within education

US Evidence is much more comprehensive than EU evidence as there are fewer major comparative studies within Europe Desegregation in the US reduced the levels of inequality in educational attainment between black and white students between 1965 to mid1990s (Hedges and Nowell, 1999; Campbell et al., 2000) Affirmative action reduced racial inequalities in college enrolment and increased the proportion of Black students getting degrees (Wells and Crain, 1994; Bowen and Bok, 1998) Giving women the same high quality education in mathematics and sciences has radically improved their rates of attainment in the last 30 years of the 20th century (Campbell, et al., 2000); Giving high quality holistic, prolonged and personalised literacy education to young children improves their educational attainment (Borman et al., 2003; 2005) Opportunities given to immigrants to develop cultural capital and positive social capital is of benefit educationally (Portes, 1999)

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Summary of Findings

Why equality of economic condition matters

Socio-economic (social class) based inequalities remain the primary cause of inequality in educational participation in all societies even when controlling for race/ethnicity
Shavit and Blossfeld, 1993; Gamoran, 2001; Chiu and Khoo, 2005, Karen 2005; Rothstein 2004; Wilson 1998

Inequalities in wealth/income enable richer families to use excess wealth to advantage their children by investing in out-of-school educational activities and resources (Duncan and Brooks-Gun, 1997, Orr, 2003)
The higher the level of inequality in a society the higher the level of anxiety of failing fear for the future; this propels parents to be more competitive in terms of education and to seek out competitive advantage via private education markets. This offsets the impact of equality policies enacted in schools (Lynch and Moran, 2006)

Societies that promote or facilitate inequality generally, promote a culture of inequality in the direct resourcing of schools

Social inequalities outside schools impact on the culture of classrooms

Lingard, Bob (2007) Pedagogies of Indifference International Journal of Inclusive Education, 11, No. 3, p245-266. (a study of 250 teachers and 1000 classes in
Australia)

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Understanding the processes

Inequality is always relational

In an unequal society, educational success is about gaining competitive advantage for privileged positions As education is resource intensive, access to economic resources impact directly (both in direct cost and opportunity cost terms) on ones ability to participate and succeed relative to others
Access to resources also impacts indirectly on ones ability to participate and succeed knowing one lacks economic resources (and the associated social, cultural capital and symbolic capital that comes with class or racial privilege) relative to other competitors , lowers ones aspirations as people tend to aspire for what they know is achievable relative to others

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Economically-generated inequality outside of education is a key issue in promoting inequality within education
Substantive equality of opportunity in education is a logical impossibility for the majority of disadvantaged people in very economically unequal societies
Yes, schools and colleges have a role to play in mitigating the worse effects of inequality and by not exacerbating inequality

There is no internal settlement within education for deeprooted social class (and related racial/ethnic) inequality as much of it is generated outside of schools and colleges Need to avoid false promises from education

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Equality in Education: Distributive Justice and Procedural Justice

My focus in this lecture is on Distributive Justice education as a social good,equality of access, participation and outcomes Procedural Justice within education also matters for equality of condition Curriculum and Pedagogy (what is defined as valuable knowledge is deeply political and has profound egalitarian implications; same is true of pedagogy, how we teach are we engaged in banking education (Paulo Freire) that numbs critical consciousness? Assessment -how one is assessed and on what, is also deeply political and has profound egalitarian implications Organisation of Schools and Recognition of Abilities tracking by age, by attainment, by subject level has profound egalitarian implications; how do we respect differences of ability and which abilities do we recognise? How Power is exercised who exercises control and how, inside and outside the school; do we listen to children in schools? Are their voices heard/How Care is Organised or not
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Conclusion: Implications of combining an Equality of Condition Framework with Equal Opportunities

It means recognising that substantive equality of opportunity in education requires structural adjustments inside and outside of education; these take time and require a radical rethinking of both the purposes and processes of education It requires policy initiatives to reduce income and wealth inequalities within the economy as it is these that incentivise people to protect privileges for their own children (or social group) in education; deep-rooted economic inequalities incite a fear of failing among the relatively secure that keeps the poor in their educational place It requires policy-makers to engage in joined-up thinking across policy fields (employment, wealth distribution, housing, health care, culture, transport, child care, welfare, immigration etc.) - all impact on educational outcomes It requires a serious critical engagement with what is taught in schools (curriculum), pedagogical practices (how we teach) assessment (modes of examining), grouping and classification (tracking) definitions of abilities (what is defined as an ability and what is ignored) and with the social organisation of schools - (care ethos) (difference ethos) (power ethos)
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