Material Factors (social class)

Question 1

What material factors affect educational achievement?

Answer 1

Housing, Diet and Health, Financial support and costs of education and fear of debt

Question 2

What direct effects affect does poor housing have on achievement?

Answer 2

Overcrowding means less room for educational activities, nowhere to do homework, disturbed sleeping from sharing bedrooms etc. (direct effects)

Families in temporary accommodation who have to move a lot results in constant changes of school and disrupted education.

Question 3

What indirect effects affect does poor housing have on achievement?

Answer 3

Indirect effects of poor housing : greater risk of accidents in crowded homes, cold or damp housing leads to ill health, families in temporary accommodation suffer more psychological distress. HEALTH PROBLEMS = MORE ABSENCES FROM SCHOOL

Question 4

What does Marilyn Howard say about diet and health?

Answer 4

Marilyn Howard notes that young people from poorer homes have lower intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals. Poor nutrition affects health, for example weakening immune system and lowering energy levels. This results in more absences from school and difficulties concentrating in class.

Question 5

What does Richard Wilkinson say about diet and health?

Answer 5

Among ten year olds, the lower the social class, the higher the rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders –> negative effect on child’s education

Question 6

What does Jo Blanden and Stephen Machin say about diet and health?

Answer 6

Found that children from low income families were more likely to engage in ‘externalising behaviour,(fighting and temper tantrums) which are likely to disrupt their schooling.

Question 7

What does lack of financial support mean?

Answer 7

Children from poor households have to do without equipment and miss out on experiences that would enhance their educational achievement.

Question 8

What do poor children have to make do with as a result of the heavy burden of education?

Answer 8

hand me downs and cheaper but unfashionable equipment - which may result in being isolated, stigmatised or bullied by peers.

Question 9

What do lack of funds mean?

Answer 9

Children from low-income families often need to work

Question 10

What did Ridge find?

Answer 10

Ridge found that children in poverty take on jobs such as babysitting, cleaning and paper rounds, and this has a negative effect on their school work.

Question 11

What support had previously been given to poorer students staying in education post 16?

Answer 11

Educational Maintenance Allowance but it was abolished by the Coalition Government in 2011

Question 12

Who did a study on WC students?

Answer 12

Callender and Jackson

Question 13

What did Callender and Jackson find?

Answer 13

Using data from a nationwide questionnaire of nearly 2000 students, found that WC students are more debt averse and see more costs than benefits of going to UNI.

The most debt averse students were over 5 times less likely to apply than the most debt tolerant students.

Question 14

What have increase in tuition fees meant?

Answer 14

The increased debt burden will deter even more wc students from applying to university.
For example, according to UCAS (2012 the same year fees were upped to 9k) the uk number of applicants fell by 8.6% compared with the previous year.

Question 15

Do WC students get support from family?

Answer 15

WC students who go to UNI are less likely to receive financial support from families.

A national union of students (2010) online survey found that 81% of those from the highest social class received help from home, compared to 43% of those from the lowest social class.

Question 16

What does fear of debt and lack of financial support explain?

Answer 16

Explains why only about 30% of uni students come from wc backgrounds despite the fact that this group accounts for 50% of the population

Question 17

What did Reay find?

Answer 17

WC students were more likely to apply to local universities, so they could live at home and save on travel costs, but this gave them less opportunity to go to the highest status universities.

They were also more likely to work part time to fund their studies, which made it harder for them to gain higher-class degrees.

Question 18

What are the drop out rates like?

Answer 18

Dropout rates are higher for universities with a large proportion of poor students.

Question 19

What does Bourdieu argue?

Answer 19

Argues that both cultural and material factors contribute to educational achievement and are not separate but interrelated.

Question 20

What types of capital does Bourdieu identify and who possesses them?

Answer 20

Economic
Educational
Cultural

Middle Class generally possess all 3 types of capital

Question 21

What is cultural capital?

Answer 21

Refers to the knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and abilities of the middle class. 
It gives an advantage to those who possess it - through socialisation middle class children acquire the ability to grasp, analyse and express abstract ideas. They are more likely to develop intellectual interests and an understanding of what the education system requires for success.

Gives MC an advantage in schools, where such abilities and interests are highly valued and rewarded.