Education and social order

September 2, 2004

Public education

Universal education is very recent. Education was the province of the elite and the clergy. Private good, not public good. Why did compulsory public education develop?

Demand of the working class and of employers (new industrial work discipline)Education helped prepare people for factory productionEducation offered literacy

Education and social inequality

Education is one of the principal methods for ameliorating the effects of inequality:

some level of education is compulsory

rising level of mass education expands the proportion of those who have a claim to decision making, citizenship responsibilities

most countries have a system based on merit for continuing education

educational attainment is closely tied to occupational status

Education and social inequality

Education also helps create new classes of knowledge and personnel which are then adopted into society. (Bioengineering, neurobiology – these are constructions of modern higher education)

Expansion of the education system increases the number of specialized and elite positions in society.

Societal level data

The general education level of a society means a lot:Average years of schooling:

Italy 7.2 US: 12.0France: 7.9

Years of compulsory education:US 12Italy 9

Evidence of change?

Students enrolled in upper secondary school represent 80% of the 15-19 age group. Higher proportion of female than male students (81 vs 79), especially in north and central. Students completing upper secondary school with a diploma were 63% of 19 year olds (68 f v 59 m)

Comparative statistics

Total population having completed at least upper secondary education:

Italy 45EU 63Spain 38

Comparative statistics for 18 year olds enrolled in any kind of education (incl vocational):

Italy 69%EU 75France 80

Effects of education

Does level of education matter for labor force participation? For occupational attainment?

Italy as a special case

For students of social stratification, Italy is an interesting case: Simultaneously a major industrial country but quite traditional with respect to its educational system. One of the most unequal in Europe, with a fraction of the population as highly educated as anywhere in the world, and another fraction obtaining less education than in virtually any W European country.

A study

In a study by Ganzeboom and Treiman (1993), it was shown that the effect of social origins (measured by father’s occupational status) on educational attainment has significantly increased for women, but has remained constant for men. Very high in Italy, with no evidence that it is abating.

A study (cont)

Ganzeboom and Treiman, contWith respect to occupational

attainment, the trend for Italy is in line with other countries: education has become more important (by a factor of 3 for men and 4 for women over the last 75 years), and parental status has become less important.

Effect on income

Strong return on investment: overall one year increase in education is 7.1%. Return on investment is even higher for university study (8.3%).

Portrait of the Italian education system

Previous to 1945, Italian education was characterized by having an elite student body taught by an elite corps of teachers

This led to the perpetuation of a narrow ruling stratum

1945 Defeat Destroyed the physical infrastructure of the educational system, as well asThe ‘software’

CurriculaSyllabiTeaching methodsEtc.

The state of education, 1951

10% of the population is illiterateDemands for the democratization of the education systemWholesale changes possible due to the extreme centralization of the education system

Education and direct ruleMinistry of Education controls

CurriculaSyllabiHiring and salaries of teachersFinancing of buildings

Educational reforms1962: secondary schooling made compulsory until age 14

8 years of schooling made compulsoryHowever, curriculum remains ‘traditional’ (e.g. Latin required) until late 1960s

Due to resistance of middle-school teachers

Massive increase in scope of basic education demands for greater access to higher education

Reforms in universities 1961: students from technical institutes permitted access to science faculties1965: national entrance exam abolished open admissions

268,000 students in 1960450,000 students in 1968Double the number of women in this 8 year period, but by ’68 women are less than 1/3 of university students

Early phase of university reform overcrowding

Even though the number of students increased rapidly, initially the number of universities remains constant

Persistence of feudal structure

Many professors hardly presentProfessors’ obligation = 52 hours of teaching/yrOnce this accomplished, free to attend to their ‘main’ occupations – doctors, lawyers, etc.

No seminars, tutorials or faculty-student contactResult: high rate of failure of oral exams

81% of sec schl grads attend univ, but only 44% graduate in 1966

System favors students from the upper social strata

Student revolt of 1967-68Begins in strongly Catholic universities

Due to influence of liberation theology in Latin America

Student revolt in Italy vs. USA

Consequences of university reform

Deterioration of qualityPolitical pressure to relax stringency of oral exam systemGrade inflation

Tenure granted to thousands of academics regardless of their qualifications

Consequences, cont’dCreation of new universities

But students prefer old, distinguished ones more overcrowding

By mid 80s Rome has 160k students in a campus built for 33k

Med students can’t get in the anatomy labsStudents have to line up early to get into the library

Most students stay at home -- don’t attend classes

Politicization of Italian universities

Politics at every level of the university

Students: Many (up to 2/3) become ‘professional students’ who are supported by political parties, and make their living by being political agitators

Organize successfully to block educational reformssuch as higher tuition, standards

Faculty politicizationFaculty are often lined up with political parties

Hanker after the rewards – including public offices – that parties distribute to the faithful

The baroni – autocratic senior professors who control the universities

Can choose the date to begin the academic yearCan delegate their work to their assistantsUntil recently, could also take up another postOften live far from their university postsDo not have to submit to student evaluations

Italy A great place to be a professor

Where can I sign up?

A terrible place to be a student