Selective schooling and social mobility in England

Buscha, F., Gorman, E. and Sturgis, P. 2023. Selective schooling and social mobility in England. Labour Economics. 81 102336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2023.102336

TitleSelective schooling and social mobility in England
TypeJournal article
AuthorsBuscha, F., Gorman, E. and Sturgis, P.
Abstract

We assess whether changing from an academically selective to a comprehensive schooling system promotes social mobility, using England as a case study. Over a period of two decades, the share of pupils in academically selective schools in England declined sharply and differentially by area. Using a sample of census records matched to data on selective schooling, we exploit temporal and geographic variation in the proportion of pupils attending selective schools to estimate the effects of schooling system on intergenerational social mobility. Our results provide no support for the contention that the move from selective to comprehensive schooling had a notable effect on social mobility in England. The findings are robust to a battery of sensitivity and robustness checks.

KeywordsSocial mobility
census
selective schooling
grammar
comprehensive
Article number102336
JournalLabour Economics
Journal citation81
ISSN1879-1034
0927-5371
Year2023
PublisherElsevier
Publisher's version
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2023.102336
Web address (URL)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0927537123000118
Publication dates
Published online25 Jan 2023
Published in printApr 2023
ProjectAn Investigation of Social Mobility Using the ONS Longitudinal Study: sub-national variation and effects of selective education
FunderEconomic and Social Research Council

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