Inequality in access to education at different stages of economic development: empirical and normative aspects
The project carried out a scoping exercise to identify empirical and normative aspects of access to education in 4 countries. The expansion of education has followed a remarkably similar pattern across the globe at different stages of economic development. As national income expands so does participation in education, through primary, secondary and ultimately tertiary education (Lee & Lee, 2016). Broad averages, however, mask inequality in the composition of those attaining education. For instance, in Scotland, people from working class backgrounds are underrepresented in higher education. Conversely, in low income countries, access to secondary education, further and higher education is often limited and unequal, typically disadvantaging the female, rural and low-income populations (UNESCO, 2016). The weight of empirical evidence shows education provides a range of individual and social benefits that are important for economic development, although aspects of this are contested (see e.g. Hermannsson & Lecca (2016) on education and growth). The empirical debate focusses on technical issues, whilst the research involves inherently normative questions, e.g. about the ideals, values and goals embodied in education systems. In international collaboration this can, at the extremes, lead to reductive and culturally-specific set of judgements or, conversely, cultural relativism, where comparison between different ethical frameworks is impossible. We aim to identify these normative dimensions in conjunction with empirical issues, drawing on normative theory which takes seriously diversity in the conceptions of the good, coming from diverse cultural and religious standpoints (see e.g. Colburn & Lazenby (2016) for application to education).
Focussing on participating countries, the aim of the study is to:
- Map inequality in access
- Identify the normative principles (e.g. equality of opportunity) that drive access policies
- Identify key policy documents and data sources
- Identify key stakeholders and build awareness of the project
We further aim to:
- Identify key international stakeholders, documents and data sources
- Review key academic sources on educational access to identify the state of the art
- Identify important questions at the research frontier that could be addressed as part of a joint research project funded through the UK Government’s Global Challenges Research Fund.