Selection or moderation? : three essays on educational inequalities

Abstract

This dissertation is a collection of three empirical studies motivated by the persistent intergenerational transmission of educational inequalities worldwide. Focusing on the first educational transitions in Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany, this dissertation applies a design-based approach to evaluate family SES’ moderating effects in the prevalence and penalties of grade retention, gendered traits and school entry age. The first study focuses on the prevalence and penalty of grade retention in Spain and its heterogeneity across family socioeconomic status. To study the heterogeneity in its prevalence, it uses two exogenous traits linked to a higher prevalence of grade retention: gender and school entry age. To study the heterogeneity in its penalty, it uses an Instrumental Variable approach to account for selection bias in educational transition models. Results show selection and moderation effects of family SES, suggesting that grade retention fails as a remediation policy. Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study in the UK, the second study shows how high SES families reduce the prevalence of negative traits associated with the male gender, such as externalising behaviours and school detachment. High-SES families also moderate the male penalty in enrolment into sixth-form colleges, net of students’ prior abilities. The third study investigates the school entry age penalty in Germany using data from the National Educational Panel Study. After accounting for selection into school entry age, we find no moderation in the penalty of school entry age by family SES. Results suggest that school entry age has no consequences for inequality of achievement in Germany. This dissertation brings new empirical evidence on the social stratification in prevalence and penalties in three European contexts. These exemplify two essential mechanisms for understanding the intergenerational transmission of educational inequalities.