Out of school - social class achievement

Smith and Noble (1995) - material

• Low income can create number of barriers to learning

• E.g. lack of uniform, access to school trips, lack of resources

Blanden and Gregg (2004) - material

• Confirmed there was direct relationship between income and educational attainment

• Calculated 1/3rd reduction in income from the mean (-£140 per week) increases probability of child getting no A*- C grades at GCSE by 3-4%age points, and reduces chances of achieving degree by similar amount

Callendar and Jackson (2005) - material

• Carried out survey of nearly 2,000 prospective HE students

• Found evidence debt aversion discouraging some from lower income backgrounds from applying to university

Chowdry (2010) - material

• Poorest 20% of children only 10% had tutors

• Richest 20% of children over 50% had a tutor

Selvarajah - material

• Parents willing to pay £30ph for a tutor

• 35% households with over £52,000 paid for activities in last 3 months compared to 9% earning less than £14,000

Feinstein - cultural

• Class differences in ability from an early age and explains this is due to parental interest and involvement

• MC more involved with the education of their children

• E.g. attending parents evening, reading reports

Bourdieu - Cultural

• Cultural capital form of social advantage that leads to wealth and power

• Held by upper and middle classes as their culture seen as superior

• WC have little knowledge of this culture so are often marginalised

• Habitus: set of cultural norms that guide all decisions and determines what someone thinks is normal / reasonable behaviour

Reay - cultural

• MC mothers use own cultural capital to aid their children through education

• When students end up at Uni the MC always assumed they would get there if they wanted

• Feel like a ‘fish out of water’