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An investigation of social class inequalities in general cognitive ability in two British birth cohorts

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Connelly, Roxanne and Gayle, Vernon (2019) An investigation of social class inequalities in general cognitive ability in two British birth cohorts. British Journal of Sociology, 70 (1). 90--108. doi:10.1111/1468-4446.12343

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12343

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Abstract

The ‘Flynn effect’ describes the substantial and long-standing increase in average cognitive ability test scores, which has been observed in numerous psychological studies. Flynn makes an appeal for researchers to move beyond psychology’s standard disciplinary boundaries and to consider sociological contexts, in order to develop a more comprehensive understanding of cognitive inequalities. In this article we respond to this appeal and investigate social class inequalities in general cognitive ability test scores over time. We analyse data from the National Child Development Study (1958) and the British Cohort Study (1970). These two British birth cohorts are suitable nationally representative large-scale data resources for studying inequalities in general cognitive ability.
We observe a large parental social class effect, net of parental education and gender in both cohorts. The overall finding is that large social class divisions in cognitive ability can be observed when children are still at primary school, and similar patterns are observed in each cohort. Notably, pupils with fathers at the lower end of the class structure are at a distinct disadvantage. This is a disturbing finding and it is especially important because cognitive ability is known to influence individuals later in the lifecourse

Item Type: Journal Article
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Journal or Publication Title: British Journal of Sociology
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
ISSN: 0007-1315
Official Date: January 2019
Dates:
DateEvent
January 2019Published
19 December 2017Available
14 November 2017Accepted
Volume: 70
Number: 1
Page Range: 90--108
DOI: 10.1111/1468-4446.12343
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access

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