Educational Inequality – Term Paper

Economic disparities are perpetuating educational inequality in the country. Educational differences lead to inequalities in social and educational spheres of life. The economic background of an individual determines the quality of education he or she accesses. The opportunity to obtain quality education for people from poor backgrounds is low as compared to people from wealthy backgrounds. The different funding of schools helps to increase education disparity (de Oliver, Miguel and Briscoe 56). Schools that perform better in national exams receive more funding than schools that perform poorly. Schools that perform better are mostly located in wealthy suburbs and thus affordable to only the rich families (Kling n.p).

 Economic background determines the kind of resources that schools and students access. Students who can afford quality resources perform better than students who cannot afford the resources. This is a disadvantage to poor students because the admission to colleges and universities is based on performance in high school exams. Students from poor background are admitted to pursue less prestigious jobs that cannot guarantee them employment in the future (Desilver n.p). On the other hand, students from high social statuses are admitted to pursue prestigious courses that land them prestigious jobs. Economic disparity helps to maintain status quo in the society as increases barriers to break the vicious cycle of poverty. Financial background determines the ability of learners to navigate education system. The middle-class and upper-class families have ways of supporting their children to navigate the education system quickly (Desilver n.p). 

Works Cited

de Oliver, Miguel, and Felecia M. Briscoe. “US Higher Education In A Budgetary Vortex-1992-2007: Tracing The Positioning Of Academe In The Context Of Growing Inequality.” Higher Education 62.5 (2011): 607-618. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.

Kling, Arnold. (Feb 28, 2008). What Causes Educational Inequality? Accessed from http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2008/02/what_causes_edu_1.html

Desilver, Drew. (Jan 5, 2014). 5 facts about economic inequality. Accessed from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/07/5-facts-about-economic-inequality/