The Political Arithmetic Tradition in the Sociology of Education

This paper uses birth cohort analysis of a 1991 representative survey of Britain to establish trends in class, gender and ethnic inequalities in educational attainment. The data show some decline in class inequalities (especially at O level), a clear narrowing of gender inequalities and substantial progress among ethnic minorities, where the inequalities among the second generation (who were born and educated in Britain) are a great deal less than those in the first generation (born and educated overseas). However, overall class inequalities remain substantial and are considerably larger than the gender or ethnic inequalities. Given the slow rate at which class inequalities are declining, they are likely to remain a major problem for educational policy for the foreseeable future.