Education and Economic Crisis in Poland

Abstract

The 1980s economic crisis in Poland is leading to distortions in the conventional relationships between education and the socio‐economic structure. These distortions are examined here using a combination of case‐study research data from school visits and research literature on education and society in contemporary Poland. The progressive devaluation of material rewards for those jobs requiring high educational credentials has had a number of consequences. These include the increasing feminisation of education and academic life; a decline in educational aspirations, especially among working‐class males; and deleterious implications for the morale and working conditions of school teachers. Education is no longer a major factor in upward mobility and inequalities in wealth and income have replaced inequalities in educational opportunity as predominant concerns of Polish people. Nevertheless, there is a persistently strong demand for education among the intelligentsia, suggesting a kind of rearguard action against a rising tide of materialism.