Women,Men and Social Class Revisited: An Assessment of the Utility of a `Combined' Schema in the Context of Minority Ethnic Educational Achievement in Britain

Abstract

The last quarter of the 20th century gave rise to debate in this journal and elsewhere regarding the treatment of women in class analysis. It is argued here that the question of minority ethnic achievement has given new impetus to arguments in favour of taking account of mother's occupation in class schemas.The article constructs three different class schemas and tests their utility in this context. It then uses one schema to assess the importance of social class in explaining achievement differentials among minority ethnic pupils in Britain. Class background is found to be a key factor for all groups.The analysis finds significant differences between ethnic groups even when pupils from the same social class background are compared. When disparities within ethnic groups are examined, however, it is found that the effect of moving one place down the social class structure is similar.