{"title":"Rethinking causality and inequality in students’ degree outcomes","authors":"Duna Sabri","doi":"10.1080/01425692.2023.2179017","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Inequality in students’ degree outcomes has been a concern for the higher education sector and the UK government for more than a decade. Since its inception in 2018, the Office for Students in England has prioritised the need for evidence of causality through requiring institutions to evaluate the effectiveness of their initiatives as set out in Access and Participation Plans. This policy development responds to several reports which identify a dearth of evidence-based interventions and scant knowledge of ‘what works’. This paper traces the interplay between policy and research, focusing on the assumptions they make about causality. It concludes that unwarranted positions are taken in both spheres of practice, making progress unlikely. A conception of causality situated in extant formal theory on evidential pluralism and that draws on current practices would help us address inequality more effectively. Alternative framings of the problem of inequality in students’ degree outcomes is offered.","PeriodicalId":48085,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Sociology of Education","volume":"44 1","pages":"520 - 538"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"British Journal of Sociology of Education","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2023.2179017","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract Inequality in students’ degree outcomes has been a concern for the higher education sector and the UK government for more than a decade. Since its inception in 2018, the Office for Students in England has prioritised the need for evidence of causality through requiring institutions to evaluate the effectiveness of their initiatives as set out in Access and Participation Plans. This policy development responds to several reports which identify a dearth of evidence-based interventions and scant knowledge of ‘what works’. This paper traces the interplay between policy and research, focusing on the assumptions they make about causality. It concludes that unwarranted positions are taken in both spheres of practice, making progress unlikely. A conception of causality situated in extant formal theory on evidential pluralism and that draws on current practices would help us address inequality more effectively. Alternative framings of the problem of inequality in students’ degree outcomes is offered.
期刊介绍：
British Journal of Sociology of Education is one of the most renowned international scholarly journals in the field. The journal publishes high quality original, theoretically informed analyses of the relationship between education and society, and has an outstanding record of addressing major global debates about the social significance and impact of educational policy, provision, processes and practice in many countries around the world. The journal engages with a diverse range of contemporary and emergent social theories along with a wide range of methodological approaches. Articles investigate the discursive politics of education, social stratification and mobility, the social dimensions of all aspects of pedagogy and the curriculum, and the experiences of all those involved, from the most privileged to the most disadvantaged. The vitality of the journal is sustained by its commitment to offer independent, critical evaluations of the ways in which education interfaces with local, national, regional and global developments, contexts and agendas in all phases of formal and informal education. Contributions are expected to take into account the wide international readership of British Journal of Sociology of Education, and exhibit knowledge of previously published articles in the field. Submissions should be well located within sociological theory, and should not only be rigorous and reflexive methodologically, but also offer original insights to educational problems and or perspectives.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
