Wealth gaps in education in Germany

Dräger, Jascha

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URN:	urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-629342
Document Type:	Doctoral dissertation
Year of publication:	2022
Place of publication:	Mannheim
University:	Universität Mannheim
Evaluator:	Pollak, Reinhard
Date of oral examination:	8 September 2022
Publication language:	English
Institution:	School of Social Sciences > Soziologie (Pollak 2019-)
License:	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Subject:	300 Social sciences, sociology, anthropology
Keywords (English):	inequality in education , social stratification , wealth
Abstract:	In my dissertation, I evaluate differences in children’s education by parental wealth in Germany using different starting cohorts of the National Educational Panel Study. I find substantial wealth gaps in education, net of differences by other dimensions of socio-economic background and demographics. Wealth gaps in final educational attainment result from the accumulation of wealth gaps at several stages. Particularly important for the accumulation of inequalities are wealth gaps in early achievement, the transition to secondary school tracks, and the transition after leaving secondary school. Wealth gaps in early achievement can partially be attributed to parental investment and neighborhood effects. Moreover, I propose a new approach to explore wealth effects using Generalized Additive Models and the joint distribution of multiple components of wealth. Children in households with no or almost no assets and debt have the worst educational prospects.