Declining inequality? The changing impact of socio-economic background and ability on education in Australia
Marks, G.
British Journal of Sociology 54(4): 453-471
2003
ISSN/ISBN: 0007-1315 PMID: 14660254 DOI: 10.1080/0007131032000143555Document Number: 525016
The paper addresses several debates surrounding the reproduction of socio-economic inequality: (i) the persistent inequality thesis, which maintains that despite the increases in educational participation socio-economic inequalities in education have not declined; (ii) the related thesis of maximally maintained inequality, which proposes that socio-economic inequalities decline only when participation levels for the most privileged socio-economic group approach saturation levels; (iii) the meritocracy debate on the importance of ability vis-à-vis socio-economic background and changes in its influence over time; and (iv) the effect of policy changes on socio-economic inequalities in education. These issues are addressed using data from six Australian youth cohorts born between 1961 and the mid-1980s.