Ethnicity Sociology
Sociology of Education
Unit 04
What patterns of achievement are there for students of different ethnicities?
Learning targets:
Different ethnic groups appear to have differing levels of achievement in school. Overall, the ethnicities of attainment are White, Chinese and Indian heritage students. There has been concern about the achievement levels of certain Black minorities: in particular, African Caribbeans and Bangladeshi students under-attain in schools.
Sociologists have difficulty in measuring the impact of ethnicity on achievement because other factors may be involved. Poverty, class and cultural factors may all form part of reasons why some Black ethnic groups underperform.
Key questions
(AO1) What is ethnicity?
(AO1) What patterns of attainment on the basis of ethnicity are there?
(AO2) Is the education system institutionally racist?
(AO2) What other social factors may influence ethnic attainment?
Summary of key points
Ethnicity is a word used in sociology to describe the culture that you belong to. Everyone has an ethnicity. For most people in Barry, this ethnicity or sense of belonging to a culture is Welsh. Some people have more than one ethnicity; they might be Welsh/Chinese or English/African. The majority ethnicity in Britain is white British. People who do not fit into that group are said to belong to an ethnic minority. There are many ethnicities in Britain. The majority of the UK population in 2001 was White (92 per cent). The remaining 4.6 million (or 7.9 per cent) people belonged to other ethnic groups.
It has been known for a long time that different ethnic groups appear to have differing rates of attainment in the education system. Although some writers such as H J Eysenck and the geneticist, James Watson have claimed that there are differences in ability between various ethnic groups and 'races', the evidence for this view is very poor indeed. Intelligence tests are often
Unit 04
What patterns of achievement are there for students of different ethnicities?
Learning targets:
Different ethnic groups appear to have differing levels of achievement in school. Overall, the ethnicities of attainment are White, Chinese and Indian heritage students. There has been concern about the achievement levels of certain Black minorities: in particular, African Caribbeans and Bangladeshi students under-attain in schools.
Sociologists have difficulty in measuring the impact of ethnicity on achievement because other factors may be involved. Poverty, class and cultural factors may all form part of reasons why some Black ethnic groups underperform.
Key questions
(AO1) What is ethnicity?
(AO1) What patterns of attainment on the basis of ethnicity are there?
(AO2) Is the education system institutionally racist?
(AO2) What other social factors may influence ethnic attainment?
Summary of key points
Ethnicity is a word used in sociology to describe the culture that you belong to. Everyone has an ethnicity. For most people in Barry, this ethnicity or sense of belonging to a culture is Welsh. Some people have more than one ethnicity; they might be Welsh/Chinese or English/African. The majority ethnicity in Britain is white British. People who do not fit into that group are said to belong to an ethnic minority. There are many ethnicities in Britain. The majority of the UK population in 2001 was White (92 per cent). The remaining 4.6 million (or 7.9 per cent) people belonged to other ethnic groups.
It has been known for a long time that different ethnic groups appear to have differing rates of attainment in the education system. Although some writers such as H J Eysenck and the geneticist, James Watson have claimed that there are differences in ability between various ethnic groups and 'races', the evidence for this view is very poor indeed. Intelligence tests are often