Micro-, Meso-, and Macro-Level Determinants of Educational Inequalities: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Project Information

DetEdIn

Grant agreement ID: 791804

DOI

10.3030/791804

Project terminated on 10 June 2020

EC signature date 19 April 2018

Start date 1 October 2018

End date 30 September 2020

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 171 792,60

EU contribution

€ 171 792,60

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - DetEdIn (Micro-, Meso-, and Macro-Level Determinants of Educational Inequalities: An Interdisciplinary Approach)

Reporting period: 2019-10-01 to 2020-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

This research project contributed to theory on educational inequality by examining micro-, meso-, and macro-level causes of social inequalities in education. Governments worldwide acknowledge children's right to education on the basis of equal opportunity. In accordance with the principle of equal opportunity, educational outcomes should be directly related to individual merit. However, socioeconomic origin also plays a role in shaping educational outcomes. For example, across OECD countries, only roughly every fifth child from families with a low educational background attains a tertiary-education degree, as opposed to about two thirds of children from families with at least one parent with a higher education background. These disparities in educational attainment are often interpreted as a result of inequality of opportunity. Against this background this research project used an interdisciplinary analytic framework to assess how psychological characteristics, family and school characteristics, and broader contextual characteristics influence social inequalities in education, and whether their distinct combinations influence these inequalities. Data were used from longitudinal cohort studies from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland as well as from international student assessments. Quantitative research methods were employed to generate scientific evidence and extend theory on major determinants of inequalities in education. Based on the studies conducted within project, we can conclude that educational inequalities emerge as a result of individual and contextual influences, including socialization and schooling experiences as well as institutional settings and educational policies. Accordingly, interventions are needed to tackle educational inequalities within a broad systemic approach that considers both individual and contextual factors and how they interact. Particular attention should be paid to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children who underperform in school due to unfavorable individual- and context-level conditions.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The first study used data from the longitudinal, three-generation Youth Development Study (N = 422 three-generation triads) to examine the extent to which adolescent self-esteem and economic self-efficacy affect adult educational and income attainment, and whether these psychological resources are transmitted from one generation to the next, accumulating advantage across generations. We present evidence indicating that both self-esteem and economic self-efficacy are implicated in the attainment process. Adolescent economic self-efficacy had a direct positive effect on adult educational attainment and an indirect effect through educational plans. The influence of self-esteem on adult educational attainment was entirely indirect, through school achievement. We also find evidence that economic self-efficacy was transmitted from parents to children. We conclude that future research should more broadly consider psychological resources in attainment processes from a longitudinal multigenerational perspective.

The second study used data from a 15-year panel survey to examine to what extent lower-secondary-school track attendance is associated with individuals’ probability of moving into an academic or vocational program at the upper-secondary level and how this, in turn, predicts the probability of subsequently entering a university when considering study effort and persistence. Structural equation modeling results indicate that lower-secondary track attendance substantially predicted individuals’ probability of transitioning into academic education, even when controlling for human agency. In turn, pursuing an academic rather than vocational program predicted a 47 percentage points higher probability of subsequently transitioning into university. Overall, the vertically differentiated system strongly channeled educational trajectories, with individual agency playing a comparatively minor, albeit not completely negligible, role.

The third study addressed the question whether incongruence between parental and adolescent expectations hinder academic attainment. We used data collected for the 1970 British Birth Cohort Study (BCS70) and Next Steps (formerly known as the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England), a cohort of young people born in 1989/90. We found that in both cohorts sociodemographic and achievement-related characteristics are associated with incongruent expectations, and that incongruent expectations are associated with a decreased likelihood of participating in and completing higher education.

The fourth study examined how individual and co-agency predict educational mobility. The study draws on data collected for Next Steps, a nationally representative panel study of individuals born in 1989/90. Path models were run, linking different dimensions of agency assessed during secondary school to educational attainment by age 25. The results suggest that different indicators of agency predicted both enrolment in and graduation from university after controlling for gender, ethnicity, prior academic attainment, and additional markers of parental SES (parental social class, income, and home ownership). In addition, we found evidence of co-agency - highlighting the crucial role of parents in supporting upward educational mobility of their children. The results confirm the importance of multiple dimensions of agency as critical resource factors, facilitating educational resilience among students who are the first in their family to go to university.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

This research project has made at least three contributions to the scholarly literature on educational inequalities. First, from a disciplinary perspective, the project distinguishes itself from most state-of-the-art research because it is generating empirical evidence that contributes to educational science, psychology, and sociology at once. While field-specific advances have been made in each of these disciplines, research projects have rarely attempted to produce insights from a more comprehensive psychosocial-ecological viewpoint. This project overcomes that shortcoming. The second contribution of the current project consists in combining several datasets, each of which has its own strengths and limitations (international cross-sectional data versus longitudinal surveys, breadth versus depth, etc.) and allows for addressing specific sets of questions. Previously, there has been no research project using this unique combination of datasets which allows for shedding light on the multidimensional nature of educational inequalities. Finally, although the main goal of this project is to extend scientific knowledge, the project also has clear policy relevance. It demonstrates the need for comprehensive policies to reduce inequalities in education. The research output from this project has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and it has been presented at scientific conferences as well as in university seminar series. Some of the output is also disseminated via social media and scholarly platforms such as ResearchGate and the Munich Personal RePEc Archive.

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