The differences in educational attainment in class, gender and ethnicity - Essay Example

The differences in educational attainment in class, gender and ethnicity This essay focuses on the sociological explanation of the factors affecting educational achievement. This will discuss the relationship between gender and achievement gap, cethnic group and achievement gap and socio-economic class and achievement gap. And then this will discuss to some extent, the interrelationship between all three factors. Let me start with the discussion on ethnic group. Sociologist has been trying to figure out exactly where the gap comes from among different social classes and ethnic groups. They have been trying to explore the socioeconomic and socio-cultural reasons behind the high achievement of white as compare to the low achievement of black students. Studies have been established that intellectual and academic disadvantages of poor and minorities are deep-rooted. In UK, White British, Chinese, Indian and Irish pupils score higher than Black Caribbean, Black African, Black Other, Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups (DfES, 2006, p39). This discussion is in the context of ethnic groups, turns toward the socio economic factors when one tries to find out reasons behind these differences. The Labour Force Survey( 2004/05) as in (Kenway and Palmer, 2007) defined households poverty on the basis of income and presented the percentage of different ethnic groups. White British are 20% of total with the lowest in income poverty. Compared to the Whites, 25% of Indian, 30% of Black Caribbean, 45% of Black African, 55% of Pakistani and 65% of Bangladeshi households are in income poverty. Strand and Lindsay (2009) reported a economic disadvantage on the basis of Free School Meal in UK. They indicate that in 2005, 11% Chinese, 12% Indian, 14% White British pupils, up to 30% for Black Caribbean, 34% for Pakistani, 44% Black African and 47% for Bangladeshi pupils (Strand and Lindsay, 2009).Patterns emerge between the achievement gap and socioeconomic disadvantage. Sociologist explains that such gaps are rooted in the economic backgrounds. Historically, as early as 1960, it had been pointed out that poor children fell behind rich and middle-class during the early age and then stayed behind all school life.( Duncan et al, 2007) The most significant factor or factors had not been found. Sylva et al, (2004) expressed that, in the early years, parenting practices and learning environment at home are crucial factors in educational attainment and progress. Hart and Risley(1995) conducted an intensive research project on language acquisition. The study continued for ten years and covered 42 families with newborn children in Kansas City. They families can roughly be divided into two classes naming ‘professional’ and ‘on-welfare’. During the first three years, they visited each family once a month. They recorded all communication between the child and the parents. The researchers then analyzed each child’s language development comparing the each parent’s communication style. They found the following amazing gaps Child Development Professional Families On-welfare Families Vocabulary by 3 years 1100 525 Parents Utterances per hour 487 178 Encouragement Expressions listened by 3 500,000 75,000 Discouragement Expressions listened by 3 80,000 200,000 Average IQ of the group 117 79 Table 1 developed on the data from Hart and Risley(1995) These findings from Hart and Risley(1995) expose some interesting and crucial relationships. The comparison of the vocabulary scores of each child correlated closely to the number of words the parents spoke to the child. Further, the child from lower socio economic class heard more discouragement and disapproval words whereas child from professional families heard encouragement and praise words most of the time. Children’s higher IQ , their higher vocabulary and the higher encouragement words by the parents have correlation among the professional families. On the other hand, Children’s lower IQ , their lower vocabulary and the lower encouragement words by their parents have correlation among the ‘on-welfare’. Tough(2006) narrates that social scientists have studied many other elements of the parent-child relationship. Although the methods of those studies varied, their conclusions pointed to the class differences in children’s intellectual growth. What above discussion brings to the light is that actually, the achievement gap of different ethnic groups is not due to the racial differences. The students of the minorities do not perform low due to the lower intellectual abilities. Their low performance is due to the socio-economic differences of the classes and consequently different environment at home. The child of the lower socio-economic class does not have the opportunity to groom himself or herself. Their low income parents do not have the right resources and do not have the right environment that develops the children to their optimum potential. In simple, they are not provided with equal opportunities. This becomes more evident when we study the historical turn in achievement gap on gender basis. Many studies reflect that females are now doing even better than males in schools and in colleges. The large educational achievement gap that once existed between boys and girls have in most cases been eliminated” (Bae et al.2000:2). Many researchers credit this female-favorable trend the system-level changes in educational or employment opportunities for women. This system-level change implies that there is a social or cultural force that affects equally the entire population or all members of a given cohort ( DiPrete and Grusky 1990). However, several studies have argued that new situation has not eliminated gender imbalance. Now the boys are underprivileged. They are facing more educational difficulties than the girls . For instance, boys face more suspensions and expulsions along with other disciplinary actions. Boys’ dropout rates is higher than that of girls. “They more likely to be retained, are more likely to be classified with learning disabilities, and lag behind girls in grades and reading achievement”(Morris, 2011) Statistic shows that the gap is more widening at GCSE. The pass rate for girls was 72.6% at A* to C, compared with 65.4% for boys. Last year, the rate was 70.5% for girls and 63.6% for boys (Shepherd ,2010). Gender role socialization perspective is most popular explanation of this achievement. It explains that boys and girls are engaged in different behaviours and these behaviours have different effects on their education. This perspective says that girls achieve academically high because they are socialized into the role conducive to school success-- a feminine role. Girls are taught be ‘good girls’. They are trained to sit still and follow the instructions and cooperation. On the other hand boys tend to learn just opposite. They learn to be physically active, and independent. Thus they call out more often, and go around more often. Thus the behaviours girls learn place them at an advantage in classrooms (Morris, 2011). However, there is a heated debate between feminists and anti feminists sociologist about who is at advantage and who is underprivileged. One argue that boys are being marginalized where as other argue that girl are still at disadvantage. Statistics are available for both sides. (Morris, 2011). The implications of gender-role socialization perspective is ultimately a gender-specific educational trends (Morris, 2011).However some sociologist suggest that we need to accept that boys are in trouble academically..And we need to accept that is an important social problem. However their problem is deeply rooted not in discrimination but in that is rooted in the social construction of masculinity. Gender gap in educational achievement may be through classroom-based programs More recent research has argued how gendered paths of socialization fosters educational disadvantages for boys. This new tradition, which in my opinion is realistically based on sociology and not upon any specific interest group—whether feminists or anti-feminists, finds interrelationship between gender, race and class. Such researchers find out the most common and powerful explanations for achievements gaps by class and race. They suggest that unequal resources including but not limited to impoverished families and neighborhoods, lower levels of social and cultural capital are the real causes behind the discrimination(Kao and Thompson, 2003). Although, boys and girls grow up in the same families and neighborhoods, both the genders may have different exposure to risk factors related to the family and neighborhood. This again lead us to the discussion of the socio-economic differences. Strand(In Press) argues that the differences may remain to some extended even the control socio-economic gaps. He suggests that teachers’ expectations may be accountable for such achievement gaps. Same has been reinforced by Shepherd(2010). Thus, while concluding I would say, sociology presents a multifactor explanation for the achievement gap. And we need to take all those into account instead of tilting towrds any of our favourites. However, in developed country such as UK, socio-economic differences can be identified as the most influencing factor for educational achievement gap Work Cited: Bae, Yupin, et al.( 2000) Trends in Educational Equity of Girls and Women. Washington, D.C. National Center for Education Statistics. DfES (2006). Ethnicity and education. London: DfES.[WWW] Available From: http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/DFES-0208-2006.pdf [Accessed on: 27-06- 2007). DiPrete, T. A., and David B. G,. (1990) Structure and Trend in the Process of Stratification for American Men and Women. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 96.(1) , pp.107-43. G. J. Duncan et al. (2007) School Readiness and Later Achievement. American Psychological Association, Vol. 43, ( 6), pp. 1428–1446 Hart, B. and Risley, T. R. (1995) Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. Kenway, P. and Palmer, G. (2007). Poverty among ethnic groups: How and why does it differ? York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Kao, G. and Jennifer S. (2003) Racial and Ethnic Stratification in Educational Achievement and Attainment. Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 29(June) pp. 417–442. Morris E. W. (2011) Bridging the Gap: ‘Doing Gender’, ‘Hegemonic Masculinity’, and the Educational Troubles of Boys, Sociology Compass. Vol. 5, (1), pp. 92–103. Paul Tough (2009) What It Takes to Make A Student,[WWW] Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/magazine/26tough.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2 [Assessed: 11-09-09]. Sylva, K et al. (2004). The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) project: Final Report. London: Department for Education and Skills. Shepherd, J. (2010) Girls think they are cleverer than boys from age four, study finds. [WWW] Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/sep/01/girls-boys-schools-gender-gap [Assessed: 5-05-2011]. Strand, S. & Lindsay, G. (2009). Evidence of ethnic disproportionality in special education in an English population. Journal of Special Education, 43, (3), 174-190. Strand, S. (2011). The White British-Black Caribbean achievement gap: Tests, tiers and teacher expectations, British Educational Research Journal, Vol.31 (no.2), pp. 197–229 Read More