Inequality in various stages of the educational career: Patterns and mechanisms – Literature review

This literature review provides a short overview of the most recent research on roots and development of social and ethnic inequality in education across various stages of the life course. The review starts by clarifying the concepts associated with inequalities in education. Subsequently, adopting a life-span perspective, the authors discuss the state of research on the development of skill gaps in early childhood at the transition to and during primary and secondary school. Finally, the authors focus on recent comparative research regarding the impact educational systems have on educational inequality across children from different family backgrounds. The review concludes by highlighting gaps in the literature and discussing the needs for further research that are going to be addressed by ISOTIS.