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Education and social order
September 2, 2004
Public education
Universal education is very recent. Education was the province of the elite and the clergy. Private good, not public good. Why did compulsory public education develop?
Demand of the working class and of employers (new industrial work discipline)Education helped prepare people for factory productionEducation offered literacy
Education and social inequality
Education is one of the principal methods for ameliorating the effects of inequality:
some level of education is compulsory
rising level of mass education expands the proportion of those who have a claim to decision making, citizenship responsibilities
most countries have a system based on merit for continuing education
educational attainment is closely tied to occupational status
Education and social inequality
Education also helps create new classes of knowledge and personnel which are then adopted into society. (Bioengineering, neurobiology – these are constructions of modern higher education)
Expansion of the education system increases the number of specialized and elite positions in society.
Societal level data
The general education level of a society means a lot:Average years of schooling:
Italy 7.2 US: 12.0France: 7.9
Years of compulsory education:US 12Italy 9
Evidence of change?
Students enrolled in upper secondary school represent 80% of the 15-19 age group. Higher proportion of female than male students (81 vs 79), especially in north and central. Students completing upper secondary school with a diploma were 63% of 19 year olds (68 f v 59 m)
Comparative statistics
Total population having completed at least upper secondary education:
Italy 45EU 63Spain 38
Comparative statistics for 18 year olds enrolled in any kind of education (incl vocational):
Italy 69%EU 75France 80
Effects of education
Does level of education matter for labor force participation? For occupational attainment?
Italy as a special case
For students of social stratification, Italy is an interesting case: Simultaneously a major industrial country but quite traditional with respect to its educational system. One of the most unequal in Europe, with a fraction of the population as highly educated as anywhere in the world, and another fraction obtaining less education than in virtually any W European country.
A study
In a study by Ganzeboom and Treiman (1993), it was shown that the effect of social origins (measured by father’s occupational status) on educational attainment has significantly increased for women, but has remained constant for men. Very high in Italy, with no evidence that it is abating.
A study (cont)
Ganzeboom and Treiman, contWith respect to occupational
attainment, the trend for Italy is in line with other countries: education has become more important (by a factor of 3 for men and 4 for women over the last 75 years), and parental status has become less important.
Effect on income
Strong return on investment: overall one year increase in education is 7.1%. Return on investment is even higher for university study (8.3%).
Portrait of the Italian education system
Previous to 1945, Italian education was characterized by having an elite student body taught by an elite corps of teachers
This led to the perpetuation of a narrow ruling stratum
1945 Defeat Destroyed the physical infrastructure of the educational system, as well asThe ‘software’
CurriculaSyllabiTeaching methodsEtc.
The state of education, 1951
10% of the population is illiterateDemands for the democratization of the education systemWholesale changes possible due to the extreme centralization of the education system
Education and direct ruleMinistry of Education controls
CurriculaSyllabiHiring and salaries of teachersFinancing of buildings
Educational reforms1962: secondary schooling made compulsory until age 14
8 years of schooling made compulsoryHowever, curriculum remains ‘traditional’ (e.g. Latin required) until late 1960s
Due to resistance of middle-school teachers
Massive increase in scope of basic education demands for greater access to higher education
Reforms in universities 1961: students from technical institutes permitted access to science faculties1965: national entrance exam abolished open admissions
268,000 students in 1960450,000 students in 1968Double the number of women in this 8 year period, but by ’68 women are less than 1/3 of university students
Early phase of university reform overcrowding
Even though the number of students increased rapidly, initially the number of universities remains constant
Persistence of feudal structure
Many professors hardly presentProfessors’ obligation = 52 hours of teaching/yrOnce this accomplished, free to attend to their ‘main’ occupations – doctors, lawyers, etc.
No seminars, tutorials or faculty-student contactResult: high rate of failure of oral exams
81% of sec schl grads attend univ, but only 44% graduate in 1966
System favors students from the upper social strata
Student revolt of 1967-68Begins in strongly Catholic universities
Due to influence of liberation theology in Latin America
Student revolt in Italy vs. USA
Consequences of university reform
Deterioration of qualityPolitical pressure to relax stringency of oral exam systemGrade inflation
Tenure granted to thousands of academics regardless of their qualifications
Consequences, cont’dCreation of new universities
But students prefer old, distinguished ones more overcrowding
By mid 80s Rome has 160k students in a campus built for 33k
Med students can’t get in the anatomy labsStudents have to line up early to get into the library
Most students stay at home -- don’t attend classes
Politicization of Italian universities
Politics at every level of the university
Students: Many (up to 2/3) become ‘professional students’ who are supported by political parties, and make their living by being political agitators
Organize successfully to block educational reformssuch as higher tuition, standards
Faculty politicizationFaculty are often lined up with political parties
Hanker after the rewards – including public offices – that parties distribute to the faithful
The baroni – autocratic senior professors who control the universities
Can choose the date to begin the academic yearCan delegate their work to their assistantsUntil recently, could also take up another postOften live far from their university postsDo not have to submit to student evaluations
Italy A great place to be a professor
Where can I sign up?
A terrible place to be a student