Ethnicity and educational attainment

Patterns of ethnic differences in achievement

  • Chinese and Indian students- Highest achievers

  • White working-class pupils- Among the lowest performers

  • Black Caribbean pupils- Underachieve compared to white British

  • Pakistani and Bangladeshi- Below average but improving

External factors-

  1. Cultural deprivation-

  • Language- Some claim that EAL students are disadvantaged, however evidence shows that this isnt always the case

  • Attitudes and values- Some groups may lack deferred gratification

  • Sewell- Absence of tough love in black families may lead to poor behaviour

  • Asian families- Often supportive of education (high parental expectation)

  1. Material deprivation-

  • Ethnic minorities are more likely to experience poverty

  • Impacts-

  • Lack of resources

  • Poor housing conditions

  • Part-time work to support family

  1. Racism in wider society-

  • Racial discrimination leads to social exclusion- poverty= low achievement

  • Discrimination in job market (CV study)

Internal factors-

  1. Teacher racism and labelling

  • Gillborn and Youdell- Teachers quicker to discipline black pupils, linked to racialised expectations

  • Wright- Asian pupils may be marginalised or patronised

  1. Pupil responses and subcultures

  • Sewell identified 4 black boys responses to schooling-

  • Rebels

  • Conformists

  • Retreatists

  • Innovators

Fuller- Black girls in London rejected negative labels, worked hard to succeed

  1. Institutional racism

Gillborn-

  • Marketisation allows schools to be selective- disadvantages Black pupils

  • Assessment system may be biased

  • ‘Ethnocentric curriculum’- Values white culture (European history)

Evaluation

  • Not all ethnic minority students underachieve

  • Indian and Chinese students do well despite facing some discrimination

  • Cultural deprivation theories are criticised for blaming the victim

  • Internal factors better explain how schools reproduce inequality