Educational Inequalities Among School Leavers in Ireland 1979-1994



282


THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REVIEW

especially in the context of a lack of change in the relative pattern of participation
at second-level, it appears that no overall reduction in social inequalities in
access to third-level education can be assumed.

VI CONCLUSIONS

Previous analyses of educational change in Ireland have indicated that a
saturation in demand for education at a certain level on the part of the upper
middle classes will result in a reduction in social inequalities in educational
outcomes (Raftery and Hout, 1993). However, international experience indicates
that educational expansion is often accompanied by a reduction in gender, rather
than social class, inequalities in educational attainment (Shavit and Blossfeld,
1996). The rapid expansion of the completion of lower and upper second-level
education in Ireland over the 1980s and early 1990s would appear to provide an
interesting test case for comparing the relative effects of gender and social class
background on educational participation.

Analysis of data from surveys of school-leavers indicates that there has been
a continuing reduction in gender inequalities in educational attainment among
the younger cohort. In fact, the proportion of young women entering third-level
education now exceeds that of young men, a pattern which contrasts strongly
with that found among the adult population (see Whelan and Hannan, this
volume). This shift must be seen, at least partially, as a response to broader
social change in terms of female labour force participation and employment
patterns. In contrast, educational expansion has not resulted in any significant
reduction in social class inequality in recent years. In spite of an overall increase
in the proportion of young people completing second-level education, the
relativities between social classes have been maintained. Other findings to the
contrary (Clancy, 1995), the effects of social class background on third-level
participation do not appear to have changed substantially over the period. Indeed,
there is some evidence of a widening gap between the higher professional and
unskilled manual groups.

The persistence of social class inequalities in educational outcomes in Ireland
raises a number of issues for policy formulation. Recent reforms in the education
system, including the introduction of new programmes at junior and senior cycle,
have been aimed at increasing second-level completion rates among young people.
Additional measures have been introduced to target resources on schools in
disadvantaged areas and a number of third-level institutions have developed
specific initiatives to encourage access among working-class pupils (see Smyth
and McCabe, 1997). While it is too early to assess the impact of such measures,
such reforms are unlikely to result in a marked reduction in social inequalities
in educational outcomes unless they are underpinned by broader measures aimed



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