Measuring the wealth effect on education

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#1
I am sharing an interesting study finding on social mobility. Three (3) times more likely in Britain and Australia, six (6) times more likely in US. I wonder anyone has done similar study in Singapore...

Measuring the wealth effect on education

LONDON — While it may be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, it has long been thought easier for the rich man’s son or daughter to get into Harvard. Or Oxford.

But thanks to a new study by John Jerrim at the Institute of Education at the University of London, we now know how much easier.

At a time when governments on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean are increasingly facing questions about the widening gap between rich and poor, Dr Jerrim studied access to high-status universities in Britain, the United States and Australia.

“My background is economics, and if you look at the economics, kids that go to certain universities earn a premium on their wages during their working lives over and above the premium you get just by going to college,” Dr Jerrim said. In the US, that premium is about 6 per cent, he said. “The other reason for looking at these particular universities is that they seem to influence access to certain jobs and to act as a signal to high-flying graduate recruiters,” he said. “If you take the job of being prime minister of Britain, for example, you almost have to have gone to Oxford.”

Dr Jerrim found that students whose parents come from a professional or managerial background are three times as likely to enter a high-status university in Britain or Australia as students with working-class parents. For the sake of the study, a “high status” university in Britain was defined by membership in the Russell Group of large research institutions; in Australia the study looked at students attending the “Group of Eight” coalition of leading universities.

The same threefold advantage applied to students attending prestigious public universities in the US — those described as “highly selective” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which rates schools based on the test scores of incoming students.

At elite private American universities, moreover, students are six times as likely to come from a professional as a poor or working-class background, Dr Jerrim found.

Dr Jerrim said he was surprised to discover a considerable gap in access to selective colleges and universities even after accounting for differences in academic performance as measured by grades or standardised tests.

“When you take academic achievement into account, you can explain some of the difference, but not all of them,” said Dr Jerrim.

“What this means is that there are significant numbers of working-class children who, even though they have the academic credentials to be admitted to elite colleges, are either not being admitted or choosing not to apply.”

Dr Jerrim’s report was published by the Sutton Trust, a British educational charity that focuses on social mobility. “What John has shown is that if you look at academic achievement, there should be far more kids from lower income backgrounds going to top universities,” said Sutton Trust Chairman Peter Lampl. “Here in Britain, there should be another 3,000 going. And the main reason they aren’t is that they just don’t apply”.

While many British universities rely solely on test scores and grades, both Oxford and Cambridge interview candidates, and the interviews are often rigorous — a form of oral examination. “At private schools they practice endlessly for these things. Students at state schools haven’t had that preparation — and in many cases they just don’t want to put themselves through it,” Mr Lampl said, adding that such students “also worry that even if they do get in they won’t fit in”.

Asked about the policy implications of his research, Dr Jerrim called for a twin-track approach.

“The main focus for governments should be on improving achievement for poorer students,” he said.

“But the fact that there is still this gap suggests that there are also measures that schools and universities can take, such as identifying qualified students and encouraging them to raise their aspirations, and using contextual information to give students from disadvantaged backgrounds a fair chance.” THE NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.todayonline.com/daily-focus/e...epage=true
“夏则资皮,冬则资纱,旱则资船,水则资车” - 范蠡
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#2
Measuring what we already know... which is why unbridled capitalism will inevitably lead to some form of aristocracy. Not a critique but the nature of the beast and the challenge is how to balance that out.

Providing the right environment is crucial, even for a genius to develop
Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give. –William A. Ward

Think Asset-Business-Structure (ABS)
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#3
"“My background is economics, and if you look at the economics, kids that go to certain universities earn a premium on their wages during their working lives over and above the premium you get just by going to college,” Dr Jerrim said. In the US, that premium is about 6 per cent, he said. “The other reason for looking at these particular universities is that they seem to influence access to certain jobs and to act as a signal to high-flying graduate recruiters,” he said. “If you take the job of being prime minister of Britain, for example, you almost have to have gone to Oxford.”"

heng, SG got 2 Cambridge and 1 NUS for PMs...although I feel the NUS one negative value-added through the 'asset-enhancement' policies.
"... but quitting while you're ahead is not the same as quitting." - Quote from the movie American Gangster
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#4
(03-12-2013, 10:27 AM)specuvestor Wrote: Measuring what we already know... which is why unbridled capitalism will inevitably lead to some form of aristocracy. Not a critique but the nature of the beast and the challenge is how to balance that out.

Providing the right environment is crucial, even for a genius to develop

The value of the study is to quantify what we already know. There is a difference between a general statement, and a statement with support of precise numbers, IMO
“夏则资皮,冬则资纱,旱则资船,水则资车” - 范蠡
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#5
^^^ that's why we need CPI numbers to know there is inflation Smile

Buffett correctly say he doesn't need to know how much a person weigh to know he is fat Smile There are people who read basketbal stats more than the show itself.

Sometimes statistics is just a tool to convince the obvious. Not belittling academic studies that gives us new insights but sometimes it is better to be approximately right than precisely wrong. Always 中庸之道
Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give. –William A. Ward

Think Asset-Business-Structure (ABS)
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#6
(03-12-2013, 10:57 AM)specuvestor Wrote: ^^^ that's why we need CPI numbers to know there is inflation Smile

Buffett correctly say he doesn't need to know how much a person weigh to know he is fat Smile There are people who read basketbal stats more than the show itself.

Sometimes statistics is just a tool to convince the obvious. Not belittling academic studies that gives us new insights but sometimes it is better to be approximately right than precisely wrong. Always 中庸之道

Well, at least I don't feel comfortable to invest with a general "feel" that a stock is undervalue. I need at least to know how far is the "undervalue" ...Big Grin

I agree we might not need weight to know a person is fat, but we definitely need to know his/her weight before any slimming program.
“夏则资皮,冬则资纱,旱则资船,水则资车” - 范蠡
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#7
Quote:SG got 2 Cambridge and 1 NUS for PMs

The next one is likely to be Cambridge.
LSE also got chance.

NUS?? Got two but their chances not high.
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#8
(03-12-2013, 10:57 AM)specuvestor Wrote: ^^^ that's why we need CPI numbers to know there is inflation Smile

Sometimes statistics is just a tool to convince the obvious. Not belittling academic studies that gives us new insights but sometimes it is better to be approximately right than precisely wrong. Always 中庸之道

And sometimes statistics is just a tool to fudge the obvious. From http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/forum/2009/0...s-fair.php

"GEP pupils do not only come from rich homes or selected schools but from all socio-economic groups and the wide spectrum of society. They are drawn from about 115 of our 177 primary schools (i.e. 65%) and more than half (55%) live in HDB flats."

And GEP students more readily qualify for Direct School Admission (via interviews) into Schools offering an Integrated Program i.e. through train until just before university with good prospects for scholarships thrown in.

We start way earlier than any other country. Angel
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#9
Your post looks familiar Smile I think someone asked to the effect of how do you interpret "more than half (55%) live in HDB flats" in the context of 80% Singaporeans lived in HDB.

Nonetheless I think Singapore had been more socialist in general, and the trend of providing universal healthcare and education should be there, for collective benefit. Leaders should continue the mandate of governance benefiting the majority while not neglecting the minorities, rather than on misguided PnL under Singapore Inc.
Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give. –William A. Ward

Think Asset-Business-Structure (ABS)
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#10
There is this paper but it's hidden behind a paywall.

Education and intergenerational mobility in Singapore
Irene Y.H. Ng

Abstract:
International research on the effects of educational regimes on intergenerational mobility suggests that Singapore’s education system possesses characteristics that tend to decrease intergenerational mobility. These characteristics include ability-based and school-based streaming, privatization of basic and tertiary education, expansion of tertiary education while increasing fees, and possibly regressive public expenditure on education. These characteristics are motivated by a belief in offering multiple pathways for success, and thereby developing a globally competitive workforce. However, comparisons between Singapore and Finland suggest that greater equity and mobility can be achieved without necessarily compromising students’ performance and the nation’s economic competitiveness. Given wide income disparity and at best moderate intergenerational mobility in Singapore, evaluations of the mobility effects of the various characteristics of Singapore’s education system should be conducted. Priority should be given to rethinking Singapore’s educational model. Remedial interventions such as bursaries and peripheral interventions such as the regulation of early education or private tuition have limited effectiveness if the main system reinforces immobility. The lessons in this study for Singapore can also be extended to other countries with differentiated education systems.
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