Overview of previous studies analyzing cross-national variation in inequality of educational opportunity
Study . | Data . | Method . | Ranking of Countries (from most to least mobile), With Estimates of Educational Inequality in Parentheses . |
---|---|---|---|
Treiman and Yip (1989) a | Political Action, Scandinavian Welfare Study, Oxford National Occupational Mobility Inquiry, ZUMABUS, Determinants of Occupational Mobility, National Labor Force Survey, 1975 Social Stratification and Mobility Survey, Occupational Changes in a Generation II | Association between father's education and son's educational attainment, regression of respondent's years of schooling on father's years of schooling and father's occupational prestige | United States (0.33), Northern Ireland (0.39), Ireland (0.40), (West) Germany/Japan (0.41), Norway (0.44), Austria (0.48), Finland (0.51), England and Wales (0.53), Israel (0.57), Netherlands/Sweden (0.58), Italy (0.71), Denmark (0.94) |
Treiman and Yip (1989) a | Political Action, Scandinavian Welfare Study, Oxford National Occupational Mobility Inquiry, ZUMABUS, Determinants of Occupational Mobility, National Labor Force Survey, 1975 Social Stratification and Mobility Survey, Occupational Changes in a Generation II | Association between father's occupation and son's educational attainment, regression of respondent's years of schooling on father's years of schooling and father's occupational prestige | Denmark (0.016), Ireland (0.018), Austria/Italy (0.019), Netherlands (0.025), Finland (0.026), Israel (0.027), (West) Germany (0.030), Northern Ireland (0.034), United States (0.040), Sweden (0.050), Japan (0.060), England and Wales (0.065), Norway (0.074) |
Pfeffer (2008) | International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) | Association between parental education and children's educational attainment in log-log models, ranking of countries based on the “unidiff” parameters for each country (average across countries set to 0) and multiplied by −1 | Finland (0.24), Northern Ireland (0.22), New Zealand (0.19), Denmark (0.16), Great Britain/United States (0.14), Canada (0.13), Czech Republic (0.11), Sweden (0.10), Poland (0.08), Chile (−0.03), Ireland (−0.04), Italy (−0.14), Norway (−0.15), Hungary (−0.15), Switzerland (−0.17), Belgium (−0.20), Germany (−0.27), Slovenia (−0.34) |
Hertz et al. (2008) a | International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) | Association between parental education and children's educational attainment, parent-child schooling association (both measured in years of education) | Denmark (0.30), Great Britain, (0.31), Northern Ireland (0.32), Finland (0.33), Norway (0.35), Netherlands (0.36), Slovakia/Czech Republic (0.37), Ukraine (0.39), Belgium (Flanders)/Sweden/Estonia (0.40), United States/Ireland/Switzerland (0.46), Slovenia (0.52), Italy (0.54) |
Bol and van de Werfhorst (2013) | European Social Survey | Association between parental education and children's educational attainment, regression of social origin and years of education | United Kingdom (0.27), Greece (0.29), Sweden/Denmark (0.31), Finland (0.33), Ireland (0.35), Netherlands/Slovakia/Slovenia (0.36), Germany/Israel (0.37), Czech Republic (0.38), Belgium/Switzerland (0.39), Norway (0.40), Turkey (0.43), Poland (0.44), Spain (0.45), Hungary (0.46), Austria (0.47), Italy (0.51), France (0.52), Luxembourg (0.54) |
Chmielewski and Reardon (2016) | Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K) | Association between parental income and children's reading test scores, 90/10 income achievement gap | Iceland (0.616), Sweden (0.695), Norway (0.698), Netherlands (0.779), Canada (Ontario) (0.881), England (0.947), Canada (Quebec) (0.948), New Zealand (0.958), Slovenia (1.025), Germany (1.098), Slovak Republic (1.104), Greece (1.112), United States (1.280) |
Chmielewski and Reardon (2016) | Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006, ECLS-K | Association between parental income and children's reading test scores, 90/10 income achievement gap | Iceland (0.447), Denmark (0.650), Poland (0.655), Korea (0.795), New Zealand (0.924), Germany (1.011), United States (1.364), Portugal (1.383), Luxembourg (1.390) |
Chmielewski and Reardon (2016) | Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006, ECLS-K | Association between parental income and children's mathematics test scores, 90/10 income achievement gap | Iceland (0.557), Denmark (0.749), Poland (0.758), New Zealand (0.924), Korea (1.042), Germany (1.148), United States (1.303), Luxembourg (1.362), Portugal (1.471) |
Chmielewski and Reardon (2016) | Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006, ECLS-K | Association between parental income and children's science test scores, 90/10 income achievement gap | Iceland (0.539), Denmark (0.697), Poland (0.755), Korea (0.850), New Zealand (0.924), Germany (1.131), Luxembourg (1.391), Portugal (1.441) |
Study . | Data . | Method . | Ranking of Countries (from most to least mobile), With Estimates of Educational Inequality in Parentheses . |
---|---|---|---|
Treiman and Yip (1989) a | Political Action, Scandinavian Welfare Study, Oxford National Occupational Mobility Inquiry, ZUMABUS, Determinants of Occupational Mobility, National Labor Force Survey, 1975 Social Stratification and Mobility Survey, Occupational Changes in a Generation II | Association between father's education and son's educational attainment, regression of respondent's years of schooling on father's years of schooling and father's occupational prestige | United States (0.33), Northern Ireland (0.39), Ireland (0.40), (West) Germany/Japan (0.41), Norway (0.44), Austria (0.48), Finland (0.51), England and Wales (0.53), Israel (0.57), Netherlands/Sweden (0.58), Italy (0.71), Denmark (0.94) |
Treiman and Yip (1989) a | Political Action, Scandinavian Welfare Study, Oxford National Occupational Mobility Inquiry, ZUMABUS, Determinants of Occupational Mobility, National Labor Force Survey, 1975 Social Stratification and Mobility Survey, Occupational Changes in a Generation II | Association between father's occupation and son's educational attainment, regression of respondent's years of schooling on father's years of schooling and father's occupational prestige | Denmark (0.016), Ireland (0.018), Austria/Italy (0.019), Netherlands (0.025), Finland (0.026), Israel (0.027), (West) Germany (0.030), Northern Ireland (0.034), United States (0.040), Sweden (0.050), Japan (0.060), England and Wales (0.065), Norway (0.074) |
Pfeffer (2008) | International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) | Association between parental education and children's educational attainment in log-log models, ranking of countries based on the “unidiff” parameters for each country (average across countries set to 0) and multiplied by −1 | Finland (0.24), Northern Ireland (0.22), New Zealand (0.19), Denmark (0.16), Great Britain/United States (0.14), Canada (0.13), Czech Republic (0.11), Sweden (0.10), Poland (0.08), Chile (−0.03), Ireland (−0.04), Italy (−0.14), Norway (−0.15), Hungary (−0.15), Switzerland (−0.17), Belgium (−0.20), Germany (−0.27), Slovenia (−0.34) |
Hertz et al. (2008) a | International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) | Association between parental education and children's educational attainment, parent-child schooling association (both measured in years of education) | Denmark (0.30), Great Britain, (0.31), Northern Ireland (0.32), Finland (0.33), Norway (0.35), Netherlands (0.36), Slovakia/Czech Republic (0.37), Ukraine (0.39), Belgium (Flanders)/Sweden/Estonia (0.40), United States/Ireland/Switzerland (0.46), Slovenia (0.52), Italy (0.54) |
Bol and van de Werfhorst (2013) | European Social Survey | Association between parental education and children's educational attainment, regression of social origin and years of education | United Kingdom (0.27), Greece (0.29), Sweden/Denmark (0.31), Finland (0.33), Ireland (0.35), Netherlands/Slovakia/Slovenia (0.36), Germany/Israel (0.37), Czech Republic (0.38), Belgium/Switzerland (0.39), Norway (0.40), Turkey (0.43), Poland (0.44), Spain (0.45), Hungary (0.46), Austria (0.47), Italy (0.51), France (0.52), Luxembourg (0.54) |
Chmielewski and Reardon (2016) | Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K) | Association between parental income and children's reading test scores, 90/10 income achievement gap | Iceland (0.616), Sweden (0.695), Norway (0.698), Netherlands (0.779), Canada (Ontario) (0.881), England (0.947), Canada (Quebec) (0.948), New Zealand (0.958), Slovenia (1.025), Germany (1.098), Slovak Republic (1.104), Greece (1.112), United States (1.280) |
Chmielewski and Reardon (2016) | Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006, ECLS-K | Association between parental income and children's reading test scores, 90/10 income achievement gap | Iceland (0.447), Denmark (0.650), Poland (0.655), Korea (0.795), New Zealand (0.924), Germany (1.011), United States (1.364), Portugal (1.383), Luxembourg (1.390) |
Chmielewski and Reardon (2016) | Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006, ECLS-K | Association between parental income and children's mathematics test scores, 90/10 income achievement gap | Iceland (0.557), Denmark (0.749), Poland (0.758), New Zealand (0.924), Korea (1.042), Germany (1.148), United States (1.303), Luxembourg (1.362), Portugal (1.471) |
Chmielewski and Reardon (2016) | Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006, ECLS-K | Association between parental income and children's science test scores, 90/10 income achievement gap | Iceland (0.539), Denmark (0.697), Poland (0.755), Korea (0.850), New Zealand (0.924), Germany (1.131), Luxembourg (1.391), Portugal (1.441) |
These studies also reported estimates for countries outside of Western Europe and North America, which we do not report here because these countries are not in our sample.