Does More Schooling Lead to Less or More Inequality of Educational Opportunity?

Michael Grätz , Université de Lausanne, Stockholm University

Critical theories of education but also the dynamics of skill formation model predict that the education system reproduces educational inequalities. Contrary to this hypothesis, empirical studies comparing the change in inequalities in academic performance over the summer to the change in these inequalities during the school year, have argued that schooling reduces educational inequalities. The present study sheds new light on the question whether schooling affects educational inequalities by analyzing another natural experiment, which induces exogenous variation in the length of schooling. Some German states moved the school start from spring to summer in 1966/1967. These states introduced two short school years, which were each three months shorter than regular school years. We use variation in the short school years across cohorts and states to estimate the effects of the length of schooling on educational inequalities using two German panel surveys. Less schooling due to the short school years did not affect educational inequalities. This finding runs counter to both the results from the summer learning literature and to the predictions of the dynamics of skill formation model and critical theories of education. We conclude by discussing the implications of this finding for our understanding of educational inequalities.

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 Presented in Session 45. Skills development – opportunities and outcomes