Education Policy as an Instrument for Equality of Opportunity

The topic of inequality in society is increasingly the focus of public debates. Apart from inequality of income and wealth, the topic also refers to missing equality of opportunity, which arises particularly in the education system. In fact, the association between educational achievement and socioeconomic background is particularly strong in Germany, indicating limited equality of opportunity for children from different social backgrounds.

At the same time, a decent education is a decisive factor for the economic prospects of each individual. Education is an investment which enables people to contribute productively to society. Therefore, acceptance of a free societal order depends on whether it enables people to profit from a free economy. For this, people must have reasonably equal starting opportunities when they begin to decide autonomously on their paths of life - irrespective of the societal status of their family. At that time, however, many courses are already set because of the covered educational paths.

Therefore, education policy - in particular the phase until the end of general schooling - has to enter the center stage of attention when aiming to create and sustain a societal order that is both free and humane. As an instrument to advance equality of starting opportunities, education policy becomes the central - and far too often neglected - pillar of a free societal order.

Non-technical contribution:

Introduction: Schools and the Equal Opportunity Problem (with P.E. Peterson). In: L. Woessmann, P.E. Peterson (eds.), Schools and the Equal Opportunity Problem, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 3-27, 2007

Here you can learn more about my research on this topic.

Two of my academic papers on the topic are:

Education Policy and Equality of Opportunity (with G. Schütz and H.W. Ursprung). Kyklos 61 (2): 279-308, 2008

Does Educational Tracking Affect Performance and Inequality? Differences-in-Differences Evidence across Countries (with E.A. Hanushek). Economic Journal 116 (510): C63-C76, 2006

Additional material is available in German.