{"id":13792,"date":"2022-12-13T18:42:34","date_gmt":"2022-12-13T16:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/?p=13792"},"modified":"2022-12-15T11:34:25","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T09:34:25","slug":"unearthing-the-roots-of-inequality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/unearthing-the-roots-of-inequality\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Unearthing the Roots of Inequality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fighting against inequality requires questioning education systems, how they make it possible to remedy them, why they rarely succeed, or even aggravate them. This is the objective of a research project &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/101044361\/fr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Role of Educational Constraints in Shaping Inequalities<\/a> &#8211; led by Ghazala Azmat, researcher in the Department of Economics &#8211; which was selected by the European Research Council as part of its very selective program of ERC Grants. Presentation.<\/p>\n<h3>Sluggish Riding in the Social Elevator of Educational Systems<\/h3>\n<p>There has been a growing global commitment by policy-makers to equity in education. The introduction of a public schooling system was advocated to equalise opportunities across individuals and to allow for social mobility <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">(1)<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Mann, H. 1957. \u201cThe Republic and the School: Horace Mann on the Education of Free Men, Teachers College,\u201d Columbia University.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>. Today, that commitment continues as a specific target of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations in 2015 <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_2');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_2');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">(2)<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> set by the United Nations, UNESCO, 2015<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>. However, socio-economic inequalities in education persist and there is no country in the world that can yet claim to have eliminated them <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_3');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_3');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_3\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">(3)<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_3\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">OECD. 2018. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oecd-ilibrary.org\/education\/equity-in-education_9789264073234-en\">Equity in Education: Breaking Down Barriers to Social Mobility<\/a>,\u201d PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>. In recent years, a steady increase in economic inequality within countries coexists with educational inequality, making improving equity in education more relevant today than ever before.<br \/>\nReducing educational inequality requires that the differences in students\u2019 economic, or social, background do not determine different educational outcomes. Economists and scientists from other social sciences, as well as policy-makers, have long been interested in the contribution of the educational system to social mobility. However, one longstanding concern is that educational systems might not always operate as a social elevator in the presence of sorting and unequal opportunities. Worst still: they can potentially act as a divider, exacerbating inequality both in the short and longer run. The aim of the project &#8216;The Role of Educational Constraints in Shaping Inequalities&#8217; is to carefully examine the educational constraints faced by individuals at a stage when they are planning their future investments in human capital.<\/p>\n<h3>Early Plans Can Change and Be Influenced by One\u2019s Environment<\/h3>\n<p>Even at a young age, individuals are already making educational plans\u2009\u2013\u2009for example, the length of their studies or their academic track. These plans provide them with internal consistency and a form of commitment. However, plans are changeable, in the early stages of education, and plans can be influenced. This gives public policy the scope to intervene. Early interventions that change people\u2019s constraints can change their plans and investments in a permanent way. Given the critical role of educational attainment for later economic success and general well-being, it is key to understand the process of educational decision-making, as a means of understanding the contribution of educational choices to the emergence, development and persistence of inequality. My research project is about the impact of early interventions on educational constraints with a focus on heterogeneous effects and inequality.<br \/>\nAn important motivation for the themes of this project stems from two recent studies on which I am currently working. They centre on the idea of human capital planning and their links to inequality in education and in the labour market. The first study focuses on the importance of educational planning and investments in adolescence <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_4');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_4');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_4\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">(4)<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_4\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Azmat, G., and K. Kaufmann. 2021. \u201cFormation of College Plans, Expected Returns and Preferences: Evidence on the Process of Adjustment to a Large Shock,\u201d unpublished manuscript.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>. The second, on the importance of career planning and setting goals on professional success<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_5');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_5');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_5\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">(5)<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_5\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Azmat, G., Cu\u00f1at, V. and E. Henry. 2022. \u201cGender Promotion Gaps: Career Aspirations and Workplace Discrimination,\u201d unpublished manuscript.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>. These studies highlight two key results: first, that early planning matters for future outcomes; and second, that, even though by definition, early plans are somewhat sticky, they can also change and be influenced by (changes in) the environment.<br \/>\nIn an article written with Katja Kaufmann, we causally estimate the effect of a large macro shock as exemplified by the German Reunification on the university plans among adolescents in East Germany. An important takeaway from the study is that it shows that adolescents do make university plans and shape their human capital investments accordingly. For cohorts in the process of making plans (aged 13), the change in environment has an enormous impact, while those at a slightly later stage (aged 15), this is much less the case, this even though the change in opportunities is almost equivalent for both cohorts. Importantly, our study also highlights that student skills and beliefs are malleable, especially in childhood or adolescence, and can be fostered through educational interventions.<\/p>\n<h3>When Negative Environments Constrain Aspirations<\/h3>\n<p>In the context of gender, while gender gaps in educational attainments have closed in recent years (or even reversed, favouring girls), there are growing concerns about other educational dimensions. We see sizable differences in the payoff related to educational or career choices and, notably, few women in top positions.<br \/>\nIn a work that I have conducted with two colleagues <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_6');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_6');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_6\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">(6)<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_6\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Azmat, G., Cu\u00f1at, V. and E. Henry. 2022. \u201cGender Promotion Gaps: Career Aspirations and Workplace Discrimination,\u201d unpublished manuscript.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> using a representative survey of U.S. lawyers, we document a sizable gender gap in the promotion to partner among lawyers. We show that 50% of this gap is explained by a gender gap in the early aspirations to become a law firm partner. What is striking in this study is that, on a large battery of observable characteristics, there is no gender difference\u2009\u2013\u2009most importantly, there is no gender difference in terms of prior educational attainment or educational performance. Similarly, there is no difference in professional goals at the entry let. Yet, only after a short time in the workplace, professional goals and investment differ tremendously by gender. What is also striking, as in Azmat and Kaufmann <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_7');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_13792_1('footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_7');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_7\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">(7)<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_7\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Azmat, G., and K. Kaufmann. 2021. \u201cFormation of College Plans, Expected Returns and Preferences: Evidence on the Process of Adjustment to a Large Shock,\u201d unpublished manuscript.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_13792_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>, is that differences in the (workplace) environment, shape goals. For instance, in this case, negative (discriminatory) experiences, which are more prevalent for female lawyers than males, lead to lower career aspirations and associated investments on-the-job, and, in turn to lower the likelihood of promotion.<\/p>\n<h3>Measuring the Barriers to Equal Learning and Opportunities<\/h3>\n<p>The project will focus on four types of educational constraints: technological barriers; social diversity at school; access to role models; and internal (psychological) constraints. The project will seek to understand, and quantify, the role of the different barriers in leading to unequal learning and opportunities and the effects of easing the constraints. Different parts of the project target specific questions that will help construct an overall picture. The project will seek to understand, and quantify, the role of the different barriers in leading to unequal learning and opportunities and the effects of easing the constraints. Specifically asking: Can the easing of technological constraints reduce learning inequality? What role does ICT access and training play for distance learning? Does differential social exposure within the classroom impact student outcomes? Can role models help an individual reach their goal? How important are psychological (or socio-emotional) barriers for achievement? This will be done by combining field interventions, experiments, and rich econometric and analytical tools to analyse big datasets and to causally estimate the impact of the components that drive the adjustment in educational plans, and, ultimately, how these factors into later educational outcomes. All projects will aim to capture the short\u2009\u2013\u2009and long-run impacts.<\/p>\n<pre><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/ghazalaazmat\/home\">Ghazala Azmat<\/a> is a Full Professor at the Sciences Po Department of Economics. Her main research interests are in applied and empirical economics, with a particular focus on the economics of education, labour economics.<\/pre>\n<div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><p><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_13792_1();\">Notes<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_13792_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_13792_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_13792_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">Notes<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_13792_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Mann, H. 1957. \u201cThe Republic and the School: Horace Mann on the Education of Free Men, Teachers College,\u201d Columbia University.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_13792_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_2');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_2\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>2<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> set by the United Nations, UNESCO, 2015<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_13792_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_3');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_3\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>3<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">OECD. 2018. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oecd-ilibrary.org\/education\/equity-in-education_9789264073234-en\">Equity in Education: Breaking Down Barriers to Social Mobility<\/a>,\u201d PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_4\" class=\"footnote_backlink\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_13792_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_4');\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>4,<\/a> <a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_7\" class=\"footnote_backlink\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_13792_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_7');\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>7<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Azmat, G., and K. Kaufmann. 2021. \u201cFormation of College Plans, Expected Returns and Preferences: Evidence on the Process of Adjustment to a Large Shock,\u201d unpublished manuscript.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi\" ><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_5\" class=\"footnote_backlink\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_13792_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_5');\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>5,<\/a> <a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_13792_1_6\" class=\"footnote_backlink\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_13792_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_13792_1_6');\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>6<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Azmat, G., Cu\u00f1at, V. and E. Henry. 2022. \u201cGender Promotion Gaps: Career Aspirations and Workplace Discrimination,\u201d unpublished manuscript.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_13792_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_13792_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_13792_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_13792_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_13792_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_13792_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_13792_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_13792_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_13792_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_13792_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_13792_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_13792_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_13792_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_13792_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fighting against inequality requires questioning education systems, how they make it possible to remedy them, why they rarely succeed, or even aggravate them. This is<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[78],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13792\/?lang=en"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/?lang=en"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post\/?lang=en"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3\/?lang=en"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments\/?lang=en&post=13792"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13792\/revisions\/?lang=en"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13834,"href":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13792\/revisions\/13834\/?lang=en"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13672\/?lang=en"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/?lang=en&parent=13792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/?lang=en&post=13792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/?lang=en&post=13792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}