Educational inequality in South Korea: The widening socioeconomic gap in student achievement

Abstract

Increasing income inequality particularly since the economic crisis of 1997 has called attention to the issue of growing educational inequality in South Korea. Although much recent research has been directed at understanding the socioeconomic gap in academic achievement, few studies have empirically examined how this gap has changed over time during the past decade in South Korea. Using nationally representative data for the most recent three cohorts (1999, 2003, and 2007) of eighth-grade South Korean students from Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), this study examines trends in the relationship between socioeconomic background and student achievement. The eighth-grade TIMSS data demonstrate that the influence of socioeconomic background on student achievement has increased over time during the past decade, offering evidence of growing educational inequality in South Korea. Various factors may contribute to higher educational inequality, including the widening income gap and recent educational transformations geared toward school choice and tracking.

Revisiting the Role of Cultural Capital in East Asian Educational Systems

“…For example, it may be possible that in a country like the United States where educational reform is increasingly emphasizing student assessments and testing (Grodsky, Warren, and Felts 2008), and there is a growing demand for shadow education to enhance students' standardized test scores (Buchmann et al 2010; Byun and Park 2011), the influence of children's embodied cultural capital on academic achievement may decrease over time. In contrast, in a country like Korea in which school reforms are geared toward a differentiated school curriculum and looser linkage between curriculum and assessments (Byun and Kim 2010a), the influence of children's embodied cultural capital (and parental cultural capital as well as family SES) may increase over time. Yet it remains to be seen how institutional transformation changes the mediating role that cultural capital plays in linking family SES to children's academic success, and in turn changes the processes and contours of social stratification over time within a country.…”

Desigualdades educacionais e socioeconómicas na população brasileira pré-universitária: Uma visão a partir da análise de dados do ENEM

“…O autor sustenta que o rendimento familiar tem vindo a conhecer um incremento do seu poder explicativo desde os anos 70. Tais evidências são convergentes com os resultados de estudos sobre outras realidades (Autor, 2014;Byun & Kim, 2010;Carneiro, 2008). Por exemplo, Byun e Kim (2010) analisam a experiência sul-coreana no período subsequente à crise financeira asiática ocorrida em 1997.…”

Searching for the golden model of education: cross-national analysis of math achievement

“…In highly standardized educational systems (e.g., France, South Korea), students are taught common curricula and have access to a relatively similar quality of teachers and schools regardless of their socioeconomic background (Byun and Kim 2010). In addition, in more standardized educational systems, low SES families tend to have fewer difficulties in engaging with schools and teachers because standardized curriculum and instruction help parents have a clear idea of what students are expected to learn.…”