Social class and sex differences in absolute and relative educational attainment in England, Scotland and Wales since the middle of the twentieth century

Abstract

Changes over time in social-class inequality of educational attainment have been shown by previous research to depend on whether attainment is measured absolutely or relatively. The pioneering work in this respect by Bukodi and Goldthorpe found that inequality has fallen when attainment is measured absolutely (for example, as the percentage completing full secondary schooling) but has changed less when a relative measure is used (for example, reaching the top quarter of the distribution of attainment). Although absolute measures remain intrinsically interesting, insofar as they represent cognitive or cultural accomplishment, relative measures are more relevant for understanding the role of education in allocating people competitively to employment. Implicit in this previous research, as in much research on the connection between education and social mobility, is that the society over which the relative standing of qualifications is measured is the same as that in which they are used to gain social rewards, such as a job. When labour markets operate across educational borders, this assumption might be open to question. The present analysis investigates the interpretation of absolute and relative educational inequality by comparing England, Scotland and Wales, which have distinct education systems but a common labour market.