Abstract
The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the reasons for regional disparities in educational expansion in Germany (i.e., rising rates of general university entrance qualification) on the basis of theoretically relevant influencing factors: changes in school policies, changes in social structure, or general social modernization processes. We pay special attention to the legal framework of schools, which has changed at different times in the German states. Our analysis is based on data from the National Educational Panel Study and on a database on the development of schooling regulations in the German states after World War II. For the analysis, we use two-way crossed random-effects models. Our analyses show that the modernization of school structures is only associated with increasing individual opportunities to access higher school education. However, this association disappears when controlling for social structure and cohort sequence. Rather, the educational expansion of the recent decades is characterized by a changed social structure and, in small parts, by general social modernization processes. In light of our findings, we argue that educational policy adapts school structures to societal changes, opens up new opportunities, yet at the same time reproduces and exacerbates educational inequality.
Highlights
Like many industrialized countries, Germany has seen enormous educational expansion, especially after World War II, for example, see [1–6]
Our investigation is guided by the following basic assumptions: Characteristics of educational policy, social structure and general social conditions can differ between regions and change over time
We find that cohorts, school policies, and parental social structure are correlated, and the only way to examine which aspects influenced educational outcomes is by performing multivariate analysis
Summary
Germany has seen enormous educational expansion (i.e., rising rates of school leavers with university entrance qualifications), especially after World War II, for example, see [1–6]. There is a general trend towards higher educational attainment, (inter-)national comparative studies continue to find regional and social disparities in educational expansion, for example, see [4,7] Such discrepancies are notable between the German states. The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the reasons for regional differences in educational expansion in Germany on the basis of the theoretically relevant influencing factors: changes in educational policy (measured as changes in school legislation), changes in social structure (measured as parental educational attainment), or general processes of social modernization (measured as cohort differences). We address in particular the variations in educational policy across German states over time The advantage of this state-level approach is that other relevant policy areas, such as social policy, can be neglected because they are largely regulated at the federal level in Germany. The disadvantage of this approach might be the insufficient variation of educational policy configurations when comparing states
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