268
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL REVIEW
argued that the rapid educational expansion experienced since the early 1980s
is likely to result in a reduction of class and gender inequalities. If this is the
case, any such changes should be especially evident among young people leaving
the educational system in recent years. Indeed, an analysis of patterns of third-
level entry suggests some reduction in gender and socio-economic inequalities
over the late 1980s and early 1990s (Clancy, 1995). This paper uses a particularly
rich source of information on young people’s life-chances, the annual surveys of
school-leavers conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute, to assess
whether any reduction in social class and gender inequalities has taken place
since the early 1980s.
International research has indicated a consistently significant effect of social
background, usually conceptualised in terms of social class, on educational
outcomes (see, for example, Jencks et al., 1972; Halsey et al., 1980). Comparative
studies have shown that the pattern of association between social class back-
ground and education tends to be similar, even in countries with very different
educational systems (Shavit and Blossfeld, 1993; Ishida, Müller, Ridge, 1995).
Parental education has a similar association with children’s education, with
higher rates of educational attainment found among those with university-
educated parents (Shavit and Blossfeld, 1993). Social background effects have
been apparent in relation to both the level of education reached and academic
performance at various stages within the educational system. In the Irish context,
adults of working-class origins are found to have significantly lower levels of
educational attainment than those of middle-class origins (Breen and Whelan,
1996). Among Junior and Leaving Certificate pupils, working-class pupils are
found to achieve significantly lower exam grades relative to their initial ability
levels than their middle-class counterparts (Hannan, Smyth et al., 1996; Smyth,
1999).
Socio-economic background is shown to have a stronger effect at earlier stages
of the educational process, declining in relative terms as students move through
the system (Shavit and Blossfeld, 1993; Raftery and Hout, 1993). Two
explanations have been advanced for this pattern. First, the life-course
hypothesis proposes that older students are less dependent on family resources,
cultural and economic, in making decisions about continued educational
participation (Shavit and Blossfeld, 1993). Second, it has been argued that this
process reflects selection effects since those working-class students who do go
on to higher levels of education are likely to be atypical of all working-class
students entering the educational system (Mare, 1980).
The causes of inequality in educational outcomes have been the subject of
much debate (see, for example, Tyler, 1977). Two sets of factors are seen to
influence class inequality of educational outcomes: differences between social
classes in academic “ability”/performance (“primary effects”); and differences