AQRiE March 2024 Webinar ─ Do you like school? Social class, gender, ethnicity and pupils

In this presentation, Dr Sarah Stopforth from the University of York gave us a paper entitled 'Do you like school? Social class, gender, ethnicity and pupils’ educational enjoyment' she co-authored with Dr Roxanne Connelly and Professor Vernon Gayle at the University of Edinburgh.

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the stratification of educational enjoyment by social class, gender and ethnicity, key structured inequalities which often pattern other educational outcomes. We analyse data from the 5th sweep of the Millennium Cohort Study when young people were in their final year of primary schooling. We estimate continuation ratio models of enjoyment of both school and individual academic subject areas. A clear uplifting message from this study is that most young people enjoy their schooling. We find that educational enjoyment is stratified by gender, and there are small differences between ethnic groups. However, there is no convincing evidence of a social class gradient. These results challenge orthodox sociological views on the relationship between structural inequalities and educational enjoyment. In this seminar talk, we will present our research findings, the implications and next steps, and the data challenges of undertaking this work.

About the Speaker

Sarah Stopforth is a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of York. Prior to joining York, she was a Research Fellow at the University of Sussex and King’s College London, and she gained her PhD in Sociology from the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests are in the fields of social stratification and the sociology of education, and her methodological interests are in applied quantitative methods.

Learn more about Dr Sarah Stopforth.

For further enquiries about this event, please contact us at AQRiE-Hub@ed.ac.uk