SOC 100- Education

OED triangle

origin

• social background (parental education, occupation, socioeconomic status)

education

• an individual’s educational attainment

destination

• social outcomes (occupation, income, social status)

hypothesis of persistent inequalities

the idea that educational systems tend to reproduce existing social inequalities over time, rather than eliminate them— even as access to education expands

coleman report

• schools bring little influence to bear on a child’s achievement independent of social context

• inequalities imposed on children by home, neighborhood, and peer environment are carried into adult life inequalities

influence of home

• poor children are exposed to greater levels of housing instability, family disruption, and violence

• different quantity, quality, and responsiveness of parental speech

• less cognitive stimulation and enrichment

• smaller brains

influence of neighborhoods

• healthy and safe environment

• access to non-school resources

• social capital and role models

influence of peer groups

• academic norms and expectations

• behavioral influence

• motivation and engagement

challenges to the coleman report

• class size

• tracking

• discipline/zero tolerance/school-to-prison pipeline

functions of schooling

• learning/knowledge

• socialization/assimilation

• credentialism

• hidden curriculum

credentialism

an overemphasis on credentials (e.g., college degrees for signaling social status or qualifications for a job)

• a social function of schooling that reinforces the role of educational institutions as gatekeepers to employment and social mobility, regardless of whether the credentials reflect actual skills or knowledge

hidden curriculum

the non academic and less overt socialization functions of schooling

financial success

• human capital theory

• college wage premium

• college wealth premium

college wage premium

gap that exists between the incomes of college graduates and high school graduates

• ratio of mean hourly wages for those holding a bachelor’s degree or those with some college and the mean hourly wages for those who have only completed high school

college wealth premium

how much net wealth does a typical college graduate accumulate over their life span, compared with that of a typical high school graduate