Measuring (In) Equality in Education

Abstract

Educational inequality is a key factor leading to future social and economic inequality, suppressing social mobility and accelerating the trend of future poverty. The consequences of educational inequality are key issues in many social and economic aspects, and therefore, highlight the importance of our research.The objective of this research is threefold. First, this research conceptualizes an innovative framework for measuring educational inequality. Second, trends in educational inequality are measured over time, using Israel as a case study. Israel constitutes an interesting case study, given its educational achievement distribution characterized by large disparities in comparison with other OECD countries. Third, the underlying origins of inequality in education are analyzed, based on an educational equality index developed in this chapter.A nationwide, unique database of students was especially developed for this research by the Ministry of Education. The data consists of student background characteristics (e.g., parental education), student learning data (e.g., educational choice of program), and student achievement (e.g., achievement in mathematics matriculation exam) throughout the decade 2001-2011. The research method is based on a Logistic-Regression model enabling the identification of the sources of inequality.The findings of this study indicate that student background characteristics, ethnicity, parental education, gender, and the number of siblings are related to the achievement gap.This work is useful for policymakers around the world who may use the index developed to measure inequality in education and the extent to which equal opportunities in education exist in their country.