A unique series of surveys of school leavers in Scotland (1952-98) is used to investigate long-term developments in the transition of young people from school. Transitions changed greatly in the half century, and varied by sex and socio-economic status. School attainment became increasingly important in giving school leavers access to post-school…

Previous research on historical trends in the UK in social-class and sex inequality in educational attainment and in occupational opportunity is extended well into the present century by means of the UK Household Longitudinal Study, with a particular focus on variation among England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In England, Wales and…

This paper analyzes the development of social inequality in the Polish higher education system during its expansion after 1990 using data from the Polish General Social Survey. Focusing on the special case of a former socialist society, where higher education expansion has been very rapid and achieved mainly through marketization, this paper…

This paper explores how, in what ways, and with what outcomes, deep structural transformations have reconstituted higher education in England, and are deeply implicated in the rise of authoritarian populism. We focus particularly on the ways in which our understandings and lived experiences of class, social mobility, meritocracy, social…

Adult education influences how labor market opportunities are structured in the later life course. We propose a theoretical framework for understanding the stratifying role of adult education resting on the distinction between two forms of adult education--upgrading and sidestepping: Resources, incentives, and selection processes systematically…

Denominational secondary schools in Scotland have been an influential means by which Catholics have achieved full social citizenship. Most of the Catholic population of Scotland has its origins in late-nineteenth-century migration from Ireland into low-skilled occupations. Although the church built a system of Catholic primary schools, it could…

This article studies socioeconomic inequalities in educational attainment in 21 European countries for cohorts born between 1925 and 1989, and asks the question whether reforms to track students later in the school career have reduced inequalities. Country fixed effects models show that inequalities by parental occupational class were reduced…

Singapore's higher education history had students involved in anti-colonial movements. This study examines how historical discourses on state efforts to manage university student movements (1953-1980) unintentionally reproduce in the intercultural business practices of today's professionals. It explores how professional accounts of intercultural…

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of higher and secondary education of the Don Cossacks in 1850-1860 and the influence of these peculiarities on the public discussion between the "progressists" and "Cossack men". The author shows that a significant part of the educated Cossacks, including those of non-noble origin,…

Education researchers, policy-makers and practitioners in the UK have debated the question of what, and how much, schools can do to mitigate the effects of parental background on educational outcomes over the last half a century. A range of programmes, strategies and interventions have been implemented, and continue to be implemented in an effort…

Newly available survey data allow the investigation of the educational and employment opportunities open to Roman Catholics in Scotland in the mid-20th century. Previous research has shown that Catholic disadvantage in education and the labour market in the early 20th century had weakened or vanished by the end of the century, and that the main…

Research shows that in contemporary Russian society there is an increasingly acute contradiction between society's need for the training of professional cadres who are able to meet modern standards, and young people's attitudes toward education. Resolving this contradiction will require both changes in the system of education in Russia and changes…

The long-term effects of secondary-school reforms in the first half of the 20th century are investigated through the long-term follow up of a sample of people born in Scotland in 1936 who were first surveyed in 1947. Members of the sample who were living in the Lothian region of Scotland were re-interviewed in 2004-2007, providing information…

This paper identifies three, overlapping, phases of restructuring of New Zealand's system of vocational education and training (VET). These are the meritocratic, the market and the managed. In very different ways, each phase has been designed to increase the propensity of students from all social backgrounds to participate in VET. This paper…

Sociologists consider inequality in educational attainment to be a major cause of inequality between people in their chances of occupying a more advantageous class position. However, there is dispute as to whether educational inequality according to social class background declined during the 20th century. What is not in doubt is the expansion of…