Tracking in context: Variation in the effects of reforms in the age at tracking on educational mobility
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Previous research found that increasing the age at first tracking in an education system increased educational mobility. This research has implicitly assumed that these effects do not vary across contexts. Contrary to this assumption, we develop two hypotheses predicting such variation. The first hypothesis predicts that changes in the age at tracking increase educational mobility more for larger than for smaller changes in the age at tracking. According to the second hypothesis, reforms in the age at tracking only increase educational mobility if they occur in societies which put a high emphasis on equality of opportunity as a policy aim. We test these hypotheses by estimating the effects of reforms in the age at tracking, which occurred in five European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, and Italy) in the 20th century, on educational mobility. We use data from the European Social Survey (ESS) and the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The effects of the reforms are identified using a regression discontinuity design (RDD). A third hypothesis tests if the reforms increase educational mobility more among women than among men and if this is particularly the case in countries with a more gender egalitarian climate. Overall, the results reveal little cross-country variation in the effects of reforms in the age at tracking on educational mobility. In all analyzed countries there is an increase in educational mobility due to the reform in the age at tracking. In most countries, these effects do not differ between men and women.
Source: Social Science Research
Authors: Michael Grätz, Marieke Heers
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,020
Funders: National Science Foundation, European Commission, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, National Institutes of Health, Seventh Framework Programme, Sixth Framework Programme, Fifth Framework Programme, National Institute on Aging
Awards: Multinational Advancement of Research Infrastructures on Ageing, G1178032220, G1237079599, G1330667123, G1428006373, G1485409107, G155832395, G1565542540, G159251131, G1608581485, G1708035608, G1750703574, G1778268290, G1781191216, G1820526844, G1980254945, G2077389594, G2343781458, G24207250, G2465118858, G2881429984, G288447808, G3166864496, G323020161, G3361099077, G3440788226, G3457581384, G3687180791, G4165969582, RAND Center for the Study of Aging, Upgrading the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe – preparatory phase, G4545110052, G4569152855, G4680531488, G4723430573, G4847675667, HRS Minority Sample Expansion Competitive Revision, G5021238699, G503278667, G504669776, G5207492846, G558125488, G5618942462, G5857780965, G6053673296, G6055688980, G6476390097, G6561238139, G6678519423, G6767647029, Liberal and Radical Equality of Opportunity (EQUALOPP), G6969501727, G6978085111, G7106119256, G751768989, DEVELOPING AN ISRAELI VERSION OF THE HRS/SHARE PROJECT, G765494255, G8072554765, G859642178, Longitudinal Enhancement and Access imProvement of the SHARE infrastructure, G8875743412, G8957671751, G9000113159, G93458789, G98010093
OpenAlex ID: W4409851740