CONTEXTS MATTER: HOW DO SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES AFFECT CHILDREN’S EDUCATION?
In contemporary societies, schools and families are two social institutions that are most
relevant for children’s education. However, the ways in which schools and families affect
children’s education are contingent upon contexts of institutional arrangements of
educational systems, public policy, and demographic changes.
My cross-national research using large-scale international data of student achievement
such as PISA has shown how educational stratification at the individual and school levels
is mediated by national contexts of structural features of educational systems such as
differentiation and standardization, and state involvement in family welfare.
My recent work examines how schooling environments shape students’ educational outcomes
1) by exploring impacts of homogeneous, standardized Korean education on educational
inequality and 2) by investigating potential benefits of single-sex schooling among high
school students in Korea.
Another contextual factor that has important implications for children’s education and
well-being is family change. I am interested in consequences of rapid family changes for
children’s well-being in societies which have weak public welfare systems and
conservative family norms, and therefore where family changes should have particularly
important implications for children.
Cross-National Research: How Contexts Mediate Educational Stratification
Educational Settings and Inequality in Korea and Other Countries
Demographic Changes and Education
