Family, Gender, and Educational Attainment in Britain: A Longitudinal Study
Author(s)
Scott, Jacqueline
Abstract
In this paper, we use six years of data from the British Household Panel Study (1994-1999) to examine how family background, maternal employment, parenting practices, youth characteristics and gender role attitudes and aspirations in early adolescence help shape later educational outcomes in terms of success at two key educational stages in England and Wales (or their Scottish equivalents). We analyse both the attainment of five or more good General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) passes at age 16 and also the achievement, by age 19, of two or more A-levels passes. Both GCSE and A-level performance have improved over recent years, but there is an ongoing concern about differences in attainment by class and gender.
