Lives on track? Long‐term earnings returns to selective school placement in England and Denmark.
We explore the influence of between‐school ability placement at lower secondary education on earnings across the life course in England and Denmark. We go beyond the mid‐career snapshot provided by previous studies by exploiting the availability of four decades worth of earnings data for individuals...
| Publicado en: | British Journal of Sociology Vol. 72; no. 3; pp. 672 - 693 |
|---|---|
| Autores principales: | , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Wiley-Blackwell
Jun2021
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=151432839&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 151432839 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00071315 BJS jtl: British Journal of Sociology issn: 00071315 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Jun2021 vid: 72 iid: 3 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell artinfo: ui: 151432839 10.1111/1468-4446.12856 ppf: 672 ppct: 21 formats: tig: atl: Lives on track? Long‐term earnings returns to selective school placement in England and Denmark. aug: au: Birkelund, Jesper Fels Capsada‐Munsech, Queralt Boliver, Vikki Karlson, Kristian Bernt affil: Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark School of Education, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK Department of Sociology, Durham University, Durham, UK su: Denmark England Class differences School choice Social mobility Labor market Secondary education Social classes Corporate profits Life course approach sug: subj: Class differences School choice Social mobility Labor market Secondary education Social classes Denmark England Elementary and Secondary Schools Corporate profits Life course approach keyword: earnings educational tracking grammar schools life course school placement selective education system earnings educational tracking grammar schools life course school placement selective education system ab: We explore the influence of between‐school ability placement at lower secondary education on earnings across the life course in England and Denmark. We go beyond the mid‐career snapshot provided by previous studies by exploiting the availability of four decades worth of earnings data for individuals born in the mid‐1950s. Members of this cohort who were judged to be among the most academically able attended grammar schools in England (19%) and advanced secondary schools (Realskole) in Denmark (51%) prior to the start of comprehensivization. This key difference makes England and Denmark interesting cases for comparison, not least since pro‐selection policies have re‐emerged in England based on the claim that grammar schools lead to better educational and labor market outcomes. Our analysis of the influence of selective school placement on earnings finds little support for this contention. We find that those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds were strikingly under‐represented in schools ear‐marked for higher ability pupils in both countries, even after taking into account social class differences in measured ability. Our analysis for England finds only modest earnings returns to attending a grammar school, totalling just £39,000 across the life course, while in Denmark the lifetime earnings returns to attending Realskole are somewhat larger (£194,000). Because those from advantaged backgrounds were substantially over‐represented at grammar schools and Realskoles, these returns accrue disproportionately to pupils from more advantaged backgrounds. Lower secondary school placement in Denmark accounts for 40% of the intergenerational reproduction of socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage, more than half of which is due to selection into school types based on socioeconomic background rather than measured ability. Our findings question the wisdom of expanding grammar schools when they appear to do little to improve individuals' earnings or increase social mobility. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|