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…

Background: Income inequality is theorized to impact health. However, evidence among adolescents is limited. This study examined the association between income inequality and health-related school absenteeism (HRSA) in adolescents. Methods: Participants were adolescents (n = 74,501) attending secondary schools (n = 136) that participated in the…

This article explores the question, 'what motivates the choice of teaching as a profession?' Availability of adequate teachers, professionally qualified in institutions of higher education to meet the curricular and structural challenges of school education, is a critical policy concern. This article is based on a study of 54 student-teachers…

Using administrative data from Delaware and aggregate occupational wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this paper examines expected wage inequality in Career and Technical Education (CTE) by analyzing how student demographics relate to selection into programs of study (POS) with different expected wages. Through multilevel mixed-effects…

In all levels of schooling there exist disparities in terms of class and gender. The research presented in this article contributes to the study of how gender, class and curriculum influence the aspirations of students who are the first-in-family to attend university. Drawing on a study of 48 students over a three-year period, we are interested in…

This paper explores how middle-class mothers' involvement in and how the meanings of a public school choice are shaped by the class differences in cultural capital and economic capital between the mother and father within one family. It examines the practices of choosing a public school that shapes a middle-class mother, rather than the school…

Children and adolescents benefit from positive intergroup peer interactions, but they are unlikely to have many opportunities for these interactions if their parents are uncomfortable with them. Drawing primarily on social identity theory (SIT), this study investigated how U.S. parents' (N = 569) comfort with their children's potential intergroup…

Status, a form of inequality based on esteem, respect, and honor, pervades social life but is poorly understood and underestimated in terms of significance. We offer a new look at status as a dynamic relationship between the shared views of others and the self that organizes behavior at the micro, meso, and macro levels of society. The status…

Educational aspirations are key predictors of academic and career success, career choices, and social mobility. While much research has explored factors shaping these aspirations, less is known about how they evolve over time. This study examines the trajectories of educational aspirations among 789 Chinese adolescents aged 11 to 15, using data…

As of May 2022, 42 state legislatures had introduced bills that would limit how (and whether) teachers can address inequities based on race, gender, and other marginalized identities. At the same time, book bans are becoming increasingly common across the country. Given the importance of providing children opportunities to critically engage with…

With the need to increase Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) graduates, higher education institutions need to identify and improve ways to increase underrepresented STEM student retention rates. Cypress College in Southern California implemented a program called STEM[superscript 2] (Strengthen Transfer Education and…

This article discusses factors affecting youth's critical thinking competency, using a dataset of 1182 observations from 30 secondary schools in rural and urban areas of Vietnam. Structural Equation Model (SEM) was constructed to analyse the overall impact of sociodemographic, within-school and out-of-school factors on critical thinking capacity…

Estimates show that, in 2019, only 41 per cent of students completed lower secondary and 28 per cent upper secondary education in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region (UNESCO, 2021). One of the reasons for the low completion rates is the poor transition across secondary education due to the significant impact of factors at individual, household,…

Gender differences in non-cognitive abilities are important in explaining the "female advantage" in education. The existing literature, however, has not yet given a clear answer as to why gender differences in non-cognitive skills arise. Based on the theoretical perspective of social interaction, this research analyses how parenting…

Purpose: Framed by social cognition theory, this study examines the impact of environmental factors (e.g. social norms) on students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ES) and entrepreneurial intention (EI). Design/methodology/approach: We obtained responses to a survey from 811 senior secondary students in Hong Kong. We then employed structural…