This study finds that genetic inheritance has more influence than the shared social environment alone in perpetuating social inequalities. However, the importance of genes varies according family environment: genetic influences are stronger among those growing up in the most advantaged families. The researchers studied 6,500 pairs of twins born in Finland between 1975 and 1986. They used … Read more
Socioeconomic Background and Gene–Environment Interplay in Social Stratification across the Early Life Course
The heterogeneous effects of parental unemployment on siblings’ educational outcomes
This study looks at the long-term effects of parental unemployment on children’s education. It finds that while there are negative impacts if the unemployment is during adolescence, there are, on average, none if it happens in early childhood. The researchers used data based on a 10 per cent sample of the adult population of Finland, … Read more
Formal differentiation at upper secondary education in Finland: subject-level choices and stratified pathways to socio-economic status and unemployment
This paper looks at how Finnish students’ track placement at upper secondary school is associated with their later-life socio-economic status and probability of unemployment using high-quality full population register data. The study finds that choosing advanced maths – in a system where students are given the freedom to make their own subject-level decisions – leads … Read more
Educational tracking and long-term outcomes by social origin: Seven countries in comparison
This paper uses longitudinal data from seven countries to assess how systems of educational tracking can impact on social mobility. Studies which simply compare comprehensive and tracked systems may be flawed, the research suggests, because of differences in how countries separate students for instructional purposes. The researchers used large-scale longitudinal data from Denmark, England, Finland, … Read more
Compensatory and multiplicative advantages: Social origin, school performance, and stratified higher education enrolment in Finland
This research finds that even in Finland, enrolling in higher education depends on students’ school performance and their parents’ education. The study uses register data from Finland, where students take entrance exams for higher education and where the education system involves both universities and polytechnics, to look at how social origin and school performance is … Read more
Destination as a process: Sibling similarity in early socioeconomic trajectories
This paper finds that when trying to better understand how individuals achieve a social position, it is key to consider not just where they start and finish, but how their lives unfold and change over time. The research makes use of rich Finnish register data to compare the education, work and earnings between the ages … Read more
Tracking and sorting in the Finnish educational system
This report gives a brief overview of educational tracking and sorting in the Finnish educational system. In Finland, students are divided into different tracks relatively late even though between and within-school tracking exists at all educational levels in some forms. In this report, we present descriptive empirical analyses of long-term consequences of educational tracking by … Read more
Compensatory or multiplicative advantage? Parental resources, school achievement and access to higher education in Finland
This research finds that even in Finland, enrolling in higher education depends on students’ school performance and their parents’ education. The study uses register data from Finland, where students take entrance exams for higher education and where there are both universities and polytechnics, to look at how parental resources – such as education – can … Read more