Equal opportunities are one of the central promises of the German education system, but the reality is different. A new study analyzes for the first time how social background in Germany influences a person's entire educational trajectory—from early childhood to the transition to university and vocational training. The authors distinguish between the influences of poverty, educational level, and occupational status of parents and measure their impact on skill levels, educational decisions, and performance assessments. This allows for a more precise examination than in previous studies of where social inequalities arise, where they continue, and where they increase or decrease. This comprehensive analysis is made possible by examining educational trajectories from birth to age 26 using data from the National Education Panel Study (NEPS). The new publication identifies the sources of inequality in educational trajectories and thus makes a fundamental contribution to the debate on how education in Germany can be made more equitable.
The results of the analysis show that social inequalities in education begin very early and remain stable for a long time. The study does not provide a snapshot, but analyzes how early inequalities develop over the long term. The authors, Prof. Dr. Marcel Helbig, Dr. Claudia Karwath, and Prof. Dr. Corinna Kleinert from the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi), look not only at social background, but also at cultural, social, and financial resources. Unlike previous studies, they examine not only educational outcomes, but also (1) the development of different skills, (2) educational decisions at different points in time, and finally (3) the assessment of students by teachers. A particular focus is placed on the transitions between individual stages of education. These hinge points in the education system provide a particularly fertile ground for the consolidation of inequalities, but at the same time offer starting points for their elimination.
Competence differences due to social background: early start, long-term stability
Even in the first years of a child's life, there are clear differences in the use of early childhood care services, which can be attributed to various factors related to social background. While in the second year of life it is mainly parents with high professional status who place their children in non-family care, in the third and fourth years of life the parents' level of education becomes more important. Children from families with a low level of education are less likely to participate in early childhood care before the age of four.
Differences in skills also become apparent at an early age: even in infancy, vocabulary and early mathematical and scientific abilities differ systematically according to social background and increase until children start school. These inequalities continue throughout the educational process, for example in reading and computer-related and digital skills. Overall, the differences remain largely stable throughout school. At the end of primary school, only 12% of children from lower social classes are among the highest-performing students in mathematics, compared to 40% of children from higher social classes.
The role of parents and teachers in the transition to secondary school
Social inequalities are particularly evident in school assessments and transition decisions. Here, children from families with high financial resources and high occupational and educational status continue to have an advantage. Some of these differences can be explained by varying levels of competence. However, even when competence levels are equal, there are still significant effects of social background.
The professional status and educational level of parents influence the transition to secondary school in several ways. For example, privileged children with comparable skills more often receive better grades than children from families with low social status. Similar differences in assessment by teachers can also be observed in transfer recommendations. Children of parents with low occupational status and low educational attainment are less likely to be recommended for Gymnasium than children from families with high levels of both, even when they have the same skills and grades. Regardless of the recommendation, families with high social status are also more likely to enroll their children in Gymnasium.
Secondary school diploma despite high skills: violation of the performance principle
In the further course of secondary education, social differences in high school attendance remain largely unchanged. Although the differences between the middle and upper social classes decrease somewhat at the transition to upper secondary education, young people from privileged families are still significantly more likely to obtain a university entrance qualification. At the end of their school years, only about one-third of young people from lower social classes have obtained a university entrance qualification, compared to more than three-quarters from higher social classes – and this difference can only be attributed in part to differences in skills. Young people with a low educational background and from poor families also have a higher risk of achieving only a secondary school leaving certificate, even if they have the same academic skills.
“This contradicts,” says Prof. Dr. Marcel Helbig, educational sociologist and co-author of the study, “the meritocratic principle of performance, according to which educational certificates should be based on actual academic skills acquired.”
Migration background alone does not explain disadvantages
Furthermore, it has been shown that children with a migration background have lower skills in comparable social circumstances, but are not disadvantaged either in terms of teacher assessment or in their educational trajectories. The study shows that children with a migrant background achieve lower school qualifications primarily because of their lower social status – and not because of their migrant background.
The gap between desired equality of opportunity and empirical reality
“From daycare to university: How social inequalities influence our educational path” paints a more comprehensive picture of educational inequalities than selective performance monitoring such as PISA or IQB-Bildungstrend can provide. The long-term perspective of the NEPS makes it possible to identify decisive phases for unequal educational opportunities and to pinpoint the gap between desired equality of opportunity and empirical reality.
About the book “From Daycare to University”
About the transfer report (summary)
Background to the study
This comprehensive empirical perspective is made possible by using data from the National Education Panel Study (NEPS). The NEPS is a system of closely interlinked panel studies that tracks educational processes over long periods of time. For the study by Helbig, Karwath, and Kleinert, the first four NEPS starting cohorts with representative samples of newborns, primary school children, lower secondary school students, and young people transitioning to upper secondary school were used and analyzed for the first time on this scale with a focus on the emergence of educational inequalities. This approach makes outstanding use of the NEPS data and underscores the analytical value of the data sets collected over many years as a basis for differentiated, life-course-oriented educational research that provides new empirical evidence for the discussion on equal opportunities in the German education system.
The study was funded by the Entrepreneurial Foundation for Equal Opportunities and conducted by researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi). More about the foundation: https://www.unternehmerstiftung.org/