Inequality: A Reassessment of the Effect of Family and Schooling in America

by Christopher Jencks, Marshall Smith

From the back "Inequality... is likely to have as much effect on American education as anything written in the last 50 years." - Lester B. Ball, The American School Board Journal "Jencks's work seems destined to become the most significant educational book of the year.... [It] is in its own way a potentially liberating force for American education .... Inequality says things that many Americans do not want to hear. It will most certainly annoy traditional educators by suggesting that the schools are an ineffective force for reshaping society. It will insult liberals by noting the weaknesses in their cherished plans and goals. And, of course, the mere mention of socialism will infuriate conservatives. Jencks's theses and his interpretation of the data will be the talk of education for months to come." - Newsweek "This book will influence American educational policies for years to come. It has already disturbed people on the left and the right because it seems to reflect an entirely new view toward integration and challenges both liberal and conservative hopes for 'equal opportunity'" - Barbara Breasted, The Christian Science Monitor

Genres: Education, Sociology, Economics

399 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1972

About the author

Christopher Sandy Jencks was an American social scientist.

Reviews

[Jeff Keehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an eye opening book. Jencks convincingly argued that it doesn't matter how much money you pour into schools. What happens at home determines the educational success of every kid. I don't know if I still believe that theory. I came from a home where education was important but not really valued. My father dropped out in the eighth grade and my mother emigrated at age 15 with little English and little formal education. She received no more when she came here. But she was smart. She couldn't help me with homework but she made it clear that how I did in school was important. And she provided a secure and middle-class home, with my father's help, at least until I turned 13, when he left.

[Tobias Wolfram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book was a saddening and sobering experience. For a brief period in the late 60s/early 70s social stratification researchers were really onto something. They used (for their time) sophisticated methods (path and mediation analysis), had really impressive datasets (like the Wisconsin longitudinal study) and a sensible theoretical foundation (the functionalist tradition). Heck, they even took notice of the growing evidence from behavioral genetics. It is all there and to be honest, it is difficult to name anything that we have learned about the nature of inequality that we did not already know 50 years ago. If the field had followed this tradition and RC28 made it the cornerstone of their international comparative agenda, social stratification research would look much different.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important look, lots of data. I would love to see an update from the authors.