Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review 2019, 55(6): 853-878 | DOI: 10.13060/00380288.2020.55.6.494

Educational Pathways and their Role in Occupational and Class Attainment in Czech Society

Michael L. Smith
Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague

This article introduces a new approach to the study of the association between education and socio-economic outcomes in the Czech Republic: educational pathways, which are the primary channels of study involving at least two educational transitions with qualitatively different tracks. Based on Czech Household Panel Study data, I operationalise Czech educational pathways between secondary and tertiary education and examine the role of eight different educational paths on ESeC-derived social classes, contrasted by parental education, gender, and birth cohort. Based on the ordered logit model, I compute the predicted probability that specific educational pathways would lead to a specific class status. I find that the educational pathway approach yields distinct insights about the education-class link that would be masked had I studied only highest level of education attained. The educational pathway approach could, therefore, be a fruitful way to approach other areas of Czech social stratification research.

Keywords: educational pathways, educational attainment, social class, occupational status

Published: December 1, 2019  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Smith, M.L. (2019). Educational Pathways and their Role in Occupational and Class Attainment in Czech Society. Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review, 55(6), 853-878. doi: 10.13060/00380288.2020.55.6.494
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Anýžová, P. and P. Matějů. 2018. 'Beauty Still Matters: The Role of Attractiveness in Labour Market Outcomes.' International Sociology 33 (3): 269-291, https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580918760431. Go to original source...
    2. Blau, P. M. and O. D. Duncan. 1967. The American Occupational Structure. New York: Wiley.
    3. Bol, T. 2015. 'Has Education Become More Positional? Educational Expansion and Labour Market Outcomes, 1985-2007.' Acta sociologica 58 (2): 105-120, https://doi.org/10.1177/0001699315570918. Go to original source...
    4. Breen, R. and J. O. Jonsson. 2000. 'Analyzing Educational Careers: A Multinomial Transition Model.' American Sociological Review 65: 754-772, https://doi.org/10.2307/2657545. Go to original source...
    5. Collins, R. 1979. The Credential Society: An Historical Sociology of Education and Stratification. New York: Academic Press.
    6. Domina, T., A. Penner and E. Penner. 2017. 'Categorical Inequality: Schools as Sorting Machines.' Annual Review of Sociology 43: 311-330, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-060116-053354. Go to original source...
    7. Erikson, R. and J. H. Goldthorpe. 1992. The Constant Flux. A Study of Class Mobility in Industrial Societies. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
    8. Goldthorpe, J. H., C. Llewellyn and C. Payne. 1980. Social Mobility and Class Structure in Modern Britain. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
    9. Hout, M. and T. A. DiPrete. 2006. 'What We Have Learned: RC28's Contributions to Knowledge about Social Stratification.' Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 24: 1-20, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2005.10.001. Go to original source...
    10. Katrňák, T. 2012. 'Is Current Czech Society a Social Class-Based Society? The Validity of EGP and ESeC Class Schemes.' Sociológia 44 (6): 678-703.
    11. Katrňák, T. and P. Fučík. 2010. Návrat k sociálnímu původu. Vývoj sociální stratifikace české společnosti v letech 1989 až 2009. (A return to social origin: social stratification in Czech society between 1989 and 2009) Brno: Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury.
    12. Katrňák, T., N. Simonová and L. Fónadová. 2013. 'From Differentiation to Diversification: Testing MMI and EMI in the Czech Secondary School System in the First Decade of the 21st Century.' Sociologický časopis/Czech Sociological Review 49 (4): 491-520. Go to original source...
    13. Katrňák, T. and T. Doseděl. 2019. 'Is Education Becoming a Weaker Determinant of Occupation? Educational Expansion and Occupational Returns to Education in 30 European Countries.' Sociologický časopis/Czech Sociological Review 55 (6): 821-851. Go to original source...
    14. Keller, J. and L. Tvrdý. 2008. Vzdělanostní společnost? Chrám, výtah a pojišťovna. Prague: Sociologické nakladatelství.
    15. Kerckhoff, A. C. 1976. 'The Status Attainment Process: Socialization or Allocation?' Social Forces 55: 368-381, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/55.2.368. Go to original source...
    16. Kerckhoff, A. C. 1996. 'Building Conceptual and Empirical Bridges between Studies of Educational and Labor Force Careers.' Pp 37-56 in Generating Social Stratification: Toward a New Research Agenda, edited by A. C. Kerckhoff. Boulder, CO: Westview, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429500244-4. Go to original source...
    17. Kerckhoff, A. C. 2001. 'Education and Social Stratification Processes in Comparative Perspective.' Sociology of Education Extra Issue 74: 3-18, https://doi.org/10.2307/2673250. Go to original source...
    18. Kreidl, M. 2004. 'Politics and Secondary School Tracking in Socialist Czechoslovakia, 1948-1989.' European Sociological Review 20 (2): 123-139, https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jch008. Go to original source...
    19. Kreidl, M. 2008. Cesty ke vzdělání. Vzdělanostní dráhy a vzdělanostní nerovnosti za socialismu. (Paths to education: educational careers and educational inequalities under socialism) Pilsen: Západočeská univerzita v Plzni.
    20. Mare, R. D. 1980. 'Social Background and School Continuation Decisions.' Journal of the American Statistical Association 75 (1): 295-305, https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1980.10477466. Go to original source...
    21. Mare, R. D. 1981. 'Change and Stability in Educational Stratification.' American Sociological Review 46 (1): 72-87, https://doi.org/10.2307/2095027. Go to original source...
    22. Matějů, P. 2000. 'Peripetie vývoje a krystalizace střední třídy.' (The tangled path of the evolution and crystallisation of the middle class) Pp. 73-97 in Nerovnost, spravedlnost, politika: Česká republika, 1991-1998, edited by P. Matějů and K. Vlachová et al. Prague: SLON.
    23. Matějů, P., I. Procházková and P. Burdová. 2006. 'Přechod mezi střední a vysokou školou ve světle Sondy Maturant a Uchazeč 1998-1999.' (Alternative models of entrance exams and access to tertiary education: a simulation study) Pp. 313-341 in (Ne)rovné šance na vzdělání: vzdělanostní nerovnosti v České republice, edited by P. Matějů and J. Straková et al. Prague: Academia.
    24. Matějů, P., M. Smith, P. Soukup and J. Basl. 2007. 'Determination of College Expectations in OECD Countries: The Role of Individual and Structural Factors.' Sociologický časopis/Czech Sociological Review 43 (6): 1121-1148. Go to original source...
    25. Mincer, J. 1974. Schooling, Experience, and Earnings. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.
    26. Müller, W. and Y. Shavit. 1998. 'The Institutional Embeddedness of the Stratification Process: A Comparative Study of Qualifications and Occupations in Thirteen Countries.' Pp. 1-48 in From School to Work: A Comparative Study of Educational Qualifications and Occupational Destinations, edited by Y. Shavit and W. Muller. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    27. Münich, D., P. Matějů, J. Straková and M. L. Smith. 2018. 'Structural Embeddedness of Students' Professional Expectations: The Czech Republic and Taiwan in Comparative Perspective.' Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education 48 (6): 973-991, https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2017.1377059. Go to original source...
    28. Mysíková, M. 2012. 'Gender Wage Gap in the Czech Republic and Central European Countries.' Prague Economic Papers 3 (3): 328-346, https://doi.org/10.18267/j.pep.427. Go to original source...
    29. Psacharopoulos, G. and H. A. Patrinos. 2004. 'Returns to Investment in Education: A Further Update.' Education Economics 12 (2): 111-134, https://doi.org/10.1080/0964529042000239140. Go to original source...
    30. Rose, D. and E. Harrison. (eds) 2010. Social Class in Europe. An Introduction to the European Socio-economic Classification. New York: Routledge.
    31. Šafář, Z. 1972. 'Model komplexní determinace profesionálního postavení.' (A model of the complex determination of professional status) Pp. 277-308 in Sociální a profesionální mobilita pracujícího obyvatelstva ČSSR. Bratislava: ČSVUP.
    32. Šafr J. (ed.) 2012. Mechanismy mezigenerační reprodukce nerovností. (Mechanisms of the intergenerational reproductions of inequalities) Prague: Sociologický ústav AV ČR.
    33. Simonová, N. 2003. 'The Evolution of Educational Inequalities in the Czech Republic after 1989.' British Journal of Sociology of Education 24 (4): 471-485, https://doi.org/10.1080/01425690301919. Go to original source...
    34. Simonová, N. 2011. Vzdělanostní nerovnosti v české společnosti: vývoj od počátku 20. století do současnosti. (Educational inequalities in Czech society: developments from the start of the 20th century to the present) Prague: SLON.
    35. Simonová, N. and P. Soukup. 2010. 'Působení primárních a sekundárních faktorů sociálního původu při přechodu na vysokou školu v ČR: výsledky výzkumu PISA-L.' (The effect of primary and secondary factors of social background on the trandition to university in the CR: results of the PISA-L study) Pp. 298-321 in Nerovnosti ve vzdělávání. Od měření k řešení, edited by P. Matějů and J. Straková. Prague: SLON.
    36. Smith, M. L., S.-L. Tsai, M.-H. Huang and P. Matějů. 2016. 'Educational Expansion and Inequality in Taiwan and the Czech Republic.' Comparative Education Review 60 (2): 339-374, https://doi.org/10.1086/685695. Go to original source...
    37. Smith, M. L., P. Anýžová and P. Matějů. 2018. 'Returns to Cognitive Skills: New Evidence from 14 Nations.' Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research. Online First, https://doi.org/10.1080/13511610.2018.1508335. Go to original source...
    38. Soukup, P. and L. Rabušic. 2007. 'Několik poznámek k jedné obsesi českých sociálních věd-statistické významnosti.' (Remarks on an obsession in the Czech social sciences-statistical significance) Sociologický časopis/Czech Sociological Review 43 (2): 379-395. Go to original source...
    39. Soukup, P. 2019. 'Pad (Používání statistické a věcné významnosti v českých sociálních vědách).' (The use of statistical and substantive significance in the Czech social sciences) Sociologický časopis/Czech Sociological Review 55 (2): 215-253, https://doi.org/10.13060/00380288.2019.55.2.459. Go to original source...
    40. Straková, J. and D. Greger. 2013. 'Faktory ovlivňující přechod žáků 5. ročníků na osmileté gymnázium.' (Factors influencing the transition of fifth-grade students to an eight-year gymnasium) Orbis Scholae 7 (3): 73-85, https://doi.org/10.14712/23363177.2015.14. Go to original source...
    41. Treiman, D. J. and H. B. G. Ganzeboom. 1990. 'Comparative Status Attainment Research.' Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 9: 105-127.
    42. Trhlíková, J. and H. Úlovcová. 2010. 'Vliv rodinného zázemí na předčasné odchody ze vzdělávání a dlouhodobou nezaměstnanost mladých lidí.' (The influence of family background on the premature exit from education and long-term unemployment of young people) Pp. 151-179 in Nerovnosti ve vzdělávání: Od měření k řešení, edited by P. Matějů, J. Straková and A. Veselý. Prague: SLON.
    43. Tuček, M. (ed.) 2003: Dynamika české společnosti a osudy lidí na přelomu tisíciletí. (The dynamics of Czech society and human lives at the turn of the millennium) Prague: SLON.
    44. Večerník, J. 2009. Czech Society in the 2000s: A Report on Socio-economic Policies and Structures. Prague: Academia.
    45. Želinský, T., M. Mysíková and J. Večerník. 2016. 'Occupational Mobility, Educational Mobility and Intergenerational Transmission of Disadvantages in Europe.' Ekonomický časopis 64 (3): 197-217.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content