A.

A crisis of meritocracy :

1. Cultural and family capital

 Correlation between family structure and parents’ education background has strengthened
over 70 years
 Parents’ education had become a stronger predicator time spent with children
 Result: a decline of welfare support + rise of multiple jobs + deregulation of work conditions
+
 gap has kept widening because top-income parents spend more in education than before +
income in Education spending among high-income families reflecting => labor market has
become more competitive so they want to make a difference (more people have a degree so
they need to make the difference through sports …) + there are more extracurricular
activities + income gap is widening + richer families tend to have fewer children
 R. Putnam: famous sociologist who treated the question

2. Role of private education

 “Should we abolish public schools” video

 Origins/chronology + problems + what % of population is concerned
 Students earn 1000 pounds less than those who studied in private schools + 7% students in
private schools (in isolation it doesn’t seem like a big problem, but then you see that they
take 40% of the best jobs: disproportionate representation among elite jobs) + abolishing
private schools is key to giving everyone the same opportunities, PS students have + in the
Medieval it was only charity for the poor and the middle class, but since the Victorian age the
public was narrowed down to middle and upper class + Student who do not pay fees only
make 1% of intake while these schools say they are charitable + most can’t afford to go
private + private schools lead to the best universities like Cambridge or Oxford => direct
route + 20 of all prime ministers in UK have graduated in ETON + P.S educate them in sport,
give them a great network of Alumni (very important in this context of competitive jobs)
 Internships are a problematic issue: PS give a privileged access + unpaid internships when
you are not under your parents responsibility are unaffordable for the poorest
 A solution could be an earmarked number of places for students who have good grades no
matter if they’re rich or poor + increase intake of law-income students and the number of
scholarships + create a lottery principle
 Private schools still have the charitable status which is important because it gives them major
tax deductions => maybe the charitable status should be reviewed
 Charters in US = Academies in UK

B. Link to other Social Mobility factors

1. Race

 1954 : Brown vs Board of Education => white schools had to accept black students but they
were also forced to have blacks => school integration through housing and busing -> relaxed
in mid-80’s because of loss of SCOTUS’s oversight + preclearance + voter suppressions + il y a
eu un retour à la situation d’avant après le gain
 Problem of lack of diversity: exposure to diversity in schools gives tolerance in later life +
perpetuates the capture of power by one group + prevents challenges to preconceived ideas
+ might discourage public funding + black neighborhoods tend to be poorer and the city if
the most important funder for state schools => vicious circle for minority neighborhood

2. Role of place/geography

 Crime rate
 Cultural amenities
 Social diversity (more funding) + social pressure (pressure to bail on school or to succeed)
 School funding
 Role and perception of government
 Social cohesion
 Infrastructure including transports
 Educational politics different between states
 Major cities have major funding for schools but not per student
 Unequal funding: nation-wide / state-wide / county-wide
 Chicago: comparatively low funding BUT good achievement + DC: low funding low
achievement
 Baltimore: position near the sea has long been an economic advantage to the city + smallest
county of the state: the few people who live there have to go to this school and only the
people there will pay which is a disadvantage (look at the ppt) => The administrative
structure reinforces funding inequalities and low achievement correlates with other
economic and social indicators

 Saint louis County, Missouri: the problem in terms of the school system: we are focusing on
the small area called => Ferguson is a very small city, the geography of the county is so
fragmented due to.