Background to the Research

• All industrialised countries expanded their public education systems in the post-war period. This led to greater participation in education within each countries' population.
• The 'liberal theory' of industrialisation argues that in the transition from agrarian to industrial society, economic and social status increasingly became based on achievement rather than ascription. Within this framework, educational selection and attainment are said to be based on merit alone.
• However, expansion and greater participation in education have not led to a reduction in class differentials or eliminated barriers to educational participation and achievement. This suggests that education remains a means through which class privilege is reproduced and maintained.
  

Research Approach

• The authors argue that exploration of the different systems of education in the North and South offer a unique opportunity to test the 'ascription to achievement' hypothesis - as both regions transformed from agrarian to industrial societies. They draw on data on those aged between 25-49 years (4,994 cases) collected from the Living in Ireland Survey conducted in the South in 1994 and on data for the North from the Continuous Household Survey from 1986-91 (13,649 cases).
• The comparative analysis used the four variables of gender, highest educational qualification, social class origin and three year of birth cohorts; (1937-43), (1944-56) and (1957-70). In the case of the North, the variable 'religious origin' (Catholic/Protestant) was also used.
  

Main Findings

Northern Ireland

• Following the 1947 Northern Ireland Education Act, secondary education was organised into a tripartite system of grammar, secondary and technical intermediate schools. Entry into grammar schools was achieved through selection at eleven by means of the 11+ tests.
• Three kinds of post-primary school evolved in the North, controlled, maintained and voluntary, each with different management and financial structures. Controlled schools are almost all Protestant, maintained schools mostly Catholic and voluntary (grammar) schools are either. In 1993/4, 98.6% of pupils were in these three sectors and only 1.4% of pupils in the integrated sector.

The Republic of Ireland

• The South has had a vocational/technical school system since the mid-19th century, this was expanded after the 1930 Vocational Education Act. Vocational schools were non-fee paying, had a vocational curriculum, a final exam called the Group Certificate and pupils were predominately working class. Secondary schools provided access to university and white collar jobs, were fee-paying (until the 1960s) and pupils were mainly middle-class.
• In 1967 all post-primary education was made free of charge and free transport was made available to all pupils. During this period, the vocational system was incorporated into the mainstream and curricular and examination reforms allowed the teaching of the full range of subjects leading to a common examination system.

Trends in Educational Attainment

• Across the 'three year of birth cohorts' there were significantly higher levels of educational achievement in the South. Of those born in the North between 1937-43 61% had no qualifications compared to 54% in the South.
• Both regions show a decline in the number without qualifications over time, of those born in the youngest cohort of 1957-70 just less than 20% in the South and 30% in the North have no qualifications.
• Participation rates are higher in the South than in the North, and the expansion of education has been more rapid in the South than in the North.
• Participation rates in the North appear to form part of the broader UK pattern of a high degree of selectivity at secondary level and poor links between the education system and industry.

Class Inequalities in Attainment - North and South

• Individuals in the South enjoy higher levels of educational attainment but these are accompanied by marked class differences in academic achievement. Of those without qualifications, 47% were from the non-skilled manual class, this compares with only 4% of those in the professional /managerial class without qualifications. Conversely, 40% of the professional/managerial class have a degree compared to less than 3% of the non-skilled manual class.
• In the North, 16.5% of the service class have no qualifications while 18% have a degree, compared to 59% of those in the non-skilled manual class without qualifications and 23% who have a degree.
• Whilst levels of educational attainment are higher in the South, so are class inequalities. Therefore, respondents in the North who originated in the non-skilled manual class had greater equality of opportunity than their Southern counterparts, nevertheless, they were 1.25 times more likely to have no qualifications and 2.7 times less likely to have a senior grade qualification.

Conclusions

• In the South, of those in the oldest cohort, 1937-43, a smaller proportion have no qualifications and a higher proportion have a degree than in the North. These levels of attainment pre-date industrialisation in the South.
• Whilst the less well educated tended to be amongst those who emigrated from the South, those who emigrated from the North tended to be better educated. Those emigrating from the North also tended to go to mainland Britain.
• Whilst the Catholic Church in both regions was an influential player in education, because of the dominance of Catholicism in the South and it's links with the State, the provision of education was widespread and participation rates greater.
• In relation to the choices available to individuals/families, the economic context is key to understanding participation. The industrialised labour market in the North offered employment to those who had no/fewer qualifications. Mobility in employment was made possible through the apprenticeship system. This was less true for the South, which had an absence of large industrial employers and there were few job opportunities for those without qualifications.
• Due to a lack of alternative avenues of social and economic advancement in the South, education became an important life choice. Families invested more of their resources in the education of their children. This has led to high levels of attainment in the South, which co-exist in turn with high levels of class inequalities, whereas the North is characterised by low class inequalities accompanied by low levels of attainment.