How useful are microclasses ?

1. How useful are microclasses? An analysis of detailed parental occupational differences and their effects on filial school attainment in Britain Professor Vernon Gayle & Dr Paul Lambert University of Stirling Modelling Patterns of Social Stratification ESRC NCRM Lancaster-Warwick-Stirling Node Sociology Strand Research Meeting August 31st 2011 – 2nd September 2011, University of Stirling

2. Microclass Analysis Motivation: There might be extra insights somewhere between ‘big class categories’ and ‘individual occupations’? Exciting debate emerging Punch up between heavyweights… For microclassesGrusky, Weeden and Jonsson Against Goldthorpe and Erikson Jonssonet al (2009) AJS; Grusky and Weeden (2005, 2006) Erikson, Goldthorpe and Hällsten (2011)

3. Microclass Analysis There might be extra insights somewhere between ‘big class categories’ and ‘individual occupations’? For example, between the eight categories of an agglomerate scheme and the 371 administrative (and sociologically unorganised) occupational unit groups,could there be 80-120 microclasses defined by their professional cultures and practices?

4. Microclass Analysis ‘Microclass regime —The microclass approach shares with the big-class model the presumption that contemporary labor markets are balkanized into discrete categories, but such balkanization is assumed to take principally the form of institutionalized occupations (e.g., doctor, plumber, postal clerk) rather than institutionalized big classes (e.g., routine nonmanuals, proprietors)’ (Jonsson et al 2009 pp.982-983)

5. Microclass Reproduction Mechanisms of Intergenerational Reproduction (Jonsson et al 2009 Table 1 p.986) Human capital Occupation-specific skills (e.g. carpentry) Cultural capital Occupation-specific cultures and tastes (e.g. aspirations, medicine, help with UCAS application) Social networks Occupation-specific networks (e.g. doing ‘the knowledge’, job interviews, internships) Economic resources Fixed resources (e.g. farms, market stalls, business in general)

6. Initial Appeal The initial appeal is the prospect of clearer resolution regarding Occupation-Specific Human Capital Occupation-Specific Cultural Capital Other Occupation-Specific Mechanisms First attempt (that we are aware of) to construct a British microclass scheme Example (from Gayle and Lambert 2011) http://www.staff.stir.ac.uk/vernon.gayle/documents/gayle_lambert_rc28_v1.pdf

7. General Certificate of Education The Education Reform Act 1988 led to rapid changes in the secondary school curriculum, and to the organisation, management and financing of schools A major change for pupils was the introduction of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) GCSEs differed from the qualifications that they replaced A new grading scheme was established and all pupils were entered for a common set of examinations There were also changes in the content and format of examinations and assessment by coursework was introduced School league tables are published (and targets are set) A newsworthy item each summer Previously only teachers, parents and pupils knew when exam results day was

8. General Certificate of Education General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) introduced in the late 1980s The standard qualification for pupils in England and Wales in year 11 (aged 15/16) Usually a mixture of assessed coursework and examinations Generally each subject is assessed separately and a subject specific GCSE awarded It is usual for pupils to study for about nine subjects, which will include core subjects (e.g. English, Maths and Science) and non-core subjects GCSEs are graded in discrete ordered categories The highest being A*, followed by grades A through to G (A* from 1994) Arran Fernandez gained A* in Maths at age 8 !

9. Why Explore GCSE Attainment? GCSEs are public examinations and mark the first major branching point in a young person’s educational career Poor GCSE attainment is a considerable obstacle which precludes young people from pursuing more advanced educational courses Young people with low levels of GCSE attainment are usually more likely to leave education at the minimum school leaving age and their qualification level frequently disadvantages them in the labour market Low levels of qualifications are also likely to have a longer term impact on experiences in the adult labour market Therefore, we argue that gaps in GCSE attainment are sociologically important

10. Youth Cohort Study of England and Wales Major Longitudinal Study began Mid-1980s Designed to monitor behaviour of young people as they reach the minimum school leaving age and either stay on in education of enter the labour market Experiences of Education (qualifications); Employment; Training; Aspirations; Family; Personal characteristic & circumstances Nationally representative; Large sample size; Panel data (albeit short); Possible to compare cohorts (trends over time) Study contacts a sample from an academic year group (cohort) in the spring following completion of compulsory education The sample is designed to be representative of all Year 11 pupils in England & Wales Sample are tracked for 3 (sometimes 4) waves (called Sweeps) of data collection We concentrate on the cohorts attaining GCSEs (1990 - 1999)

11. Parental Occupations and Filial Attainment Extended analyses of the Youth Cohort Study of England and Wales Overall trend Increasing proportions getting the benchmark 5+GCSEs (A*-C) Increasing mean number of A*-C grade GCSEs Increasing mean GCSE points score Gender Female pupils outperforming male pupils Ethnicity Some groups doing better than white pupils (e.g. Indians) Other groups doing worse (e.g. blacks) Parental Occupation Observable gradient Lower levels of GCSE attainment from those pupils with less occupationally advantaged parents

12. Sensitivity analysis of 10 popular occupational measures

13. Exploring parental influences at occupational unit group (OUG) levelNational Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) NS-SEC No. of SOC90 Occupations* 1.1 Large Employers and higher managers 10 1.2 Higher professional occupations 38 2 Lower managerial and professional occupations 78 3 Intermediate occupations 42 5 Lower supervisory and technical occupations 41 6 Semi-routine occupations 88 7 Routine occupations 74 Total 371 * Employees Possible interesting variations within NS-SEC categories?

16. a. We suspect that the parental age profile might be consequential (e.g. younger mothers who are nurses are increasingly more likely to graduates). McKnight and Elias (1998) 371 Database: Source UK Labour Force Survey 1994

17. McKnight and Elias (1998) 371 Database: Source UK Labour Force Survey 1994

18. Microclass Analyses Description of the composition of the microclasses Summary results of GCSE attainment by microclasses Examine some microclasses in detail (teaching and managerial) Think about within-microclasses? Sensitivity analyses with the microclass measure Gelman and Hill (2007) style random effects

20. Examples of the Composition of Microclasses Health ProfessionalsHealth Semi-Professionals 220 Medical practitioners 222 Ophthalmic opticians 221 Pharmacists / pharmacologists 340 Nurses 223 Dental practitioners 341 Midwives 224 Veterinarians 342 Medical radiographers 343 Physiotherapists Workers in religion 344 Chiropodists 292 Clergy 345 Dispensing opticians 347 Occupational and speech therapists Elementary and Secondary teachers 348 Environmental health officers 233 Secondary school teachers 349 Other health associated professionals 234 Primary school teachers 235 Special education 239 Other teaching (e.g. dance)

24. Multiple Occupations (SOC90) and Single Occupation Microclasses

28. Sensitivity Analyses – Random effects models

29. Sensitivity Analyses – Random effects models

30. Conclusions There might be extra insights somewhere between ‘big class categories’ and ‘individual occupations’? Microclasses are sociologically plausible First attempt to construct a British microclass scheme Extra explanatory power (for GCSE attainment) questionable? Alternative operationalisations of micro classes Many UK data sources now don’t include occupational unit group information so a microclass approach may be restricted? Possibilities for primary data collection Survey question with microclass lists (e.g. librarian, butcher etc) Harry Ganzeboom has made this point previously

31. Conclusions Parental occupations are important for GCSE attainment Message to head teachers (on performance related pay) enrol the sons and daughters of dance teachers rather than publicans! Unwillingness to collect parental occupational information (Govt and schools) Free school meals a measure of social background (in research and league tables) About 15% of pupils in state funded secondary schools Unstable measure - panel data regularly reveals a high level of ‘income churning’ from year to year (for the UK see Jarvis and Jenkins 1997) Possible end of Youth Cohort Study!