Social Class

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about social class differences in attainment and their causes, focusing in particular on: (i) key indicators of inequality between working- and middle-class students, such as access to grammar schools and elite universities; (ii) the role of differences in material resources and policy in causing this; (iii) arguments, such as those of Barry Sugarman, that different cultural attitudes towards school between working- and middle-class families cause differential attainment; (iv) factors within schools, with a focus on Paul Willis’ work on working class subcultures.

About the lecturer

Matthew Cole is Teaching Fellow in the Department of History at the University of Birmingham. He is a historian of modern Britain with a particular interest in twentieth century constitutional and party politics, and local history.