Here you can read a short summary of my dissertation
The thesis proposes a novel conceptual framework to investigate the mechanism underlying the intergenerational reproduction of inequalities. It focuses on the heterogeneity by social origins in the prevalence of a potentially negative event/condition achievement and in the penalty associated with that outcome for future educational success.
The comic in figure 1 below summarizes this conceptual framework and sets the base for a graphic novel on the micro mechanism underlying intergenerational inequalities.
Upper-class kids are less likely to fall to the flames as they usually benefit from safety nets provided by their parents and in case that happens, they are more likely to climb back on a successful path leading to making it to their first educational transition.
The empirical chapters are based on causal designs and implication analysis. They combine methodological sophistication with careful theoretical dissection of the different arguments to develop implications that can be tested empirically.
In the first chapter I study selection processes into grade retention in Spain and how the negative impact of grade repetition on the probability of post-compulsory education enrollment is moderated by family SES.
In the second chapter, I investigate gender inequalities in educational achievement and attainment. The starting point of this research is a finding of several previous studies that boys' disadvantage in educational attainment is mostly concentrated among low-SES male students. I first confirm this result for the transition to post-compulsory education in UK and then sets out to study when and how such a low SES boy penalty comes about, or, which is equivalent, when and how high SES boys manage to catch up compared to their same class
girls.
Finally, in the third chapter, I study the moderation effect of family SES on the negative effect of an early-age school start in Germany, using an innovative causal design that allows overcoming some limitations of previous studies.
Ultimately, this thesis proposes a novel framework to analyse social origin inequalities that can be profitably applied to a variety of other processes related to social origin inequalities. It also provides new causal findings on the three specific case studies considered.
