Educational Inequality Research Paper

Why is There Educational Inequality?

Intro:

For several years I have been interested in the very question I posted as the title of this paper; why is there educational inequality amongst young adults after high school? In a capitalistic society such as the United States of America, people of one group seek a higher degree of education after high school than other groups. The groups I am speaking of, are of a certain socioeconomic status or different economic classes within a society. The group that tends to seek a higher degree of education after high school, is considered to be from the upper middle to upper class or less disadvantaged. The other group who tends not to seek a higher degree, is considered more often to be from the lower middle

For example, the hierarchy system in schools reflects the structure of the labor market, with the head teacher as the managing director, pupils fall lower down in the hierarchy. Wearing uniforms and discipline are promoted among students from working class, as it would be in the workplace for lower levels employees. Education provides knowledge of how to interact in the workplace and gives direct preparation for entry into the labor market. Work casts a ‘long shadow’ in education – education is used by the bourgeoisie to control the workforce. Schools reproduce existing inequalities and they reject the notion that there are equal opportunities for all” (Bowles 1976).

In this way, he argues that education justifies and explains social inequality; in many ways, exhibiting the role Marxist theory plays in the education system. This will explore and attempt to examine where and why the educational gap is growing. I will include at research that I conducted earlier this year attempting to identify if the same issues are prevalent here at Otterbein University.

Detailing the

Students ' racial and economic background, their parents ' education level, their access to high quality preschool teaching, school funding, peer influences, teachers ' expectations, and curricular and instructional quality. Paraphrasing Marxism, in theory, it is a way of understanding and investigating a structure of society. It is also a way of analyzing how societies develop and change. For example, imagine you are looking at education through your pair Marxist glasses; you might perhaps see that school’s prime children and young adults become workers in the capitalist economy, creating economic determinism. This intern generates division. An excellent example is one taken from Marxist theory itself; the rich and less disadvantaged are the “haves” and the poor or disadvantaged are the “have