Ethnicity, Social Class and Education
Hypothesis: Social class determines how “Asian teenagers (aged 15-17) do in GCSE rather than culture.
Culture is hard to define and operationalise between different “Asian” groups. In test after test, nationally, Chinese and Indian students show superior performance in mathematics and other subjects compared with their Pakistani, Bangladeshi (also “Asian”) and non-Asian counterparts. In 2003, according to National Statistics, 71% of boys and 79% of girls achieved 5+A*-C GCSE/GNVQs. These statistics were significantly higher than the percentage achieved by the national average which was 46% for boys and 56% for girls. But more importantly, one of the lowest percentages by ethnicity were the Pakistani’s, 36% for boys and 48% for girls; both percentages lower by gender in comparison with the national average and lower by a substantial margin measured up with the Chinese ethnicity. The Indian ethnicity is just behind the Chinese ethnicity as you will see from the graph further on in my project.
What made students from such Asian countries to score significantly higher than students from other nations? One may ask what skills, talent, or innate abilities these Asian students possess. As a person of Asian ancestry, I was impressed with these results. This developed a certain interest in me and is the reason why I am studying this topic that links back to the key ideas of Sociology of ethnicity, social class and education. Additionally, this is a considerable issue in contemporary British society.
The questions that have to be asked is what strata are contained in an “Asian” community, because I believe that the nurture that different “Asian” teenagers receive is determined by their social class, i.e. working and middle class. The large majority of middle class “Asian” students originate from areas such as India and China. Their class will give these students a significant advantage over working class “Asian” students by supposedly possessing more money that will
Culture is hard to define and operationalise between different “Asian” groups. In test after test, nationally, Chinese and Indian students show superior performance in mathematics and other subjects compared with their Pakistani, Bangladeshi (also “Asian”) and non-Asian counterparts. In 2003, according to National Statistics, 71% of boys and 79% of girls achieved 5+A*-C GCSE/GNVQs. These statistics were significantly higher than the percentage achieved by the national average which was 46% for boys and 56% for girls. But more importantly, one of the lowest percentages by ethnicity were the Pakistani’s, 36% for boys and 48% for girls; both percentages lower by gender in comparison with the national average and lower by a substantial margin measured up with the Chinese ethnicity. The Indian ethnicity is just behind the Chinese ethnicity as you will see from the graph further on in my project.
What made students from such Asian countries to score significantly higher than students from other nations? One may ask what skills, talent, or innate abilities these Asian students possess. As a person of Asian ancestry, I was impressed with these results. This developed a certain interest in me and is the reason why I am studying this topic that links back to the key ideas of Sociology of ethnicity, social class and education. Additionally, this is a considerable issue in contemporary British society.
The questions that have to be asked is what strata are contained in an “Asian” community, because I believe that the nurture that different “Asian” teenagers receive is determined by their social class, i.e. working and middle class. The large majority of middle class “Asian” students originate from areas such as India and China. Their class will give these students a significant advantage over working class “Asian” students by supposedly possessing more money that will
Bibliography: • Item A (the Graph) Department for Education and Skills, Pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C at GCSE/GNVQ: by sex and ethnic group, 2004, England, (Department for Education and Skills) • Item B (the Table) (Adapted from DfES: Ethnicity and Education: The evidence on minority ethnic groups, Research Paper RTP01-05, January 2005) • Archer, Louise, reader in education policy Studies at King’s College London, Why are British-Chinese students so successful in British Schools? • Pauline Wilson and Alan Kidd, Sociology for GCSE and Modern Studies, published 1998, Chapter 6 Education.