Social origin

Sibling similarity in education across and within societies

The extent to which siblings resemble each other measures the omnibus impact of family background on life chances. We study sibling similarity in cognitive skills, school grades, and educational attainment … Read more

Editorial: Introduction to “Mechanisms of educational stratification”

Authors: Vikki Boliver, Steffen Schindler,
Issue: 2022
Themes: ,

A large body of literature has been devoted to the question of how the design of educational systems influences the formation and intergenerational reproduction of social inequality. An important feature … Read more

Association of proximal elements of social disadvantage with children’s language development at 2 years: an analysis of data from the Children in Focus (CiF) sample from the ALSPAC birth cohort

Background An association between social disadvantage and early language development is commonly reported in the literature, but less attention has been paid to the way that different aspects of social … Read more

Like parents, like children. Does the stratification of education systems moderate the direct effect of origins on destinations?

Authors: Claudia Traini,
Issue: 2022
Themes: , ,

Using data from the European Social Survey, this study asks if selective education systems can moderate the effects of our origins on later success in the labor market while controlling … Read more

Parental age in relation to offspring’s neurodevelopment

Objective: Advanced parenthood increases the risk of severe neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, Down syndrome and schizophrenia. Does advanced parenthood also negatively impact offspring’s general neurodevelopment? Method: We analyzed child-, father-, … Read more

Social disparities in the vocabulary of 2-year-old children and the mediating effect of language-stimulating interaction behavior

It is well documented that children’s language skills already vary by socioeconomic status by the time they are about 2-3 years old. In addition, study results demonstrate that the frequency … Read more

What impacts early language skills? Effects of social disparities and different process characteristics of the home learning environment in the first 2 years

Authors: Manja Attig, Sabine Weinert,
Issue: 2022
Themes: ,

It is well documented that the language skills of preschool children differ substantially and that these differences are highly predictive of their later academic success and achievements. Especially in the … Read more

Gestational age, parent education, and education in adulthood

BACKGROUND Adults born preterm (<37 weeks) have lower educational attainment than those born term. Whether this relationship is modified by family factors such as socioeconomic background is, however, less well … Read more

Deepening our understanding on the ways in which social origins shape our lives

Family background influences our lives in multiple ways: from genes to work-life connections, the role that parents can play in their children’s lives is almost ubiquitous. Yet these relationships are … Read more

From social origin to selective high school courses: Ability grouping as a mechanism of securing social advantage in Israeli secondary education

This paper focuses on ability grouping in middle school as an important mechanism enabling students with privileged social backgrounds to increase their likelihood of enrollment in the most selective and … Read more