The Growth of Schooling in Global Perspective

EVAN SCHOFER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE

EDITORS' NOTE

Having grown up in and around schools, we all have a considerable store of firsthand knowledge about education. We likely also have strong ideas about the various ways in which schools interact with the societies in which they are located. For example, many of us behave in a way that's consistent with human capital theory — studying because we believe that the knowledge and skills we accumulate in school will make us more employable, more productive, and better-paid members of the labor force.

What we already know and believe about education and society is a valuable resource to draw upon as you begin your study of the sociology of education. But it's also important to acknowledge that our firsthand knowledge is limited in important ways. The sociology of education is all about taking a broader view of schooling. We hope that, as you read this book, you'll reflect on the remarkably different ways that diverse students experience school and the many different ways that societies might organize the education of their youth.

This chapter by University of California, Irvine, sociologist Evan Schofer is a good place to start. Schofer reminds us that "school" is a relatively new invention, and that the idea that schools should be open to virtually all youth is newer still. You'll repeatedly encounter the word institution in this chapter. You surely know this word, but unless you've spent a lot of time in a sociology classroom, you may not have thought hard about what it means. In this chapter, Schofer is using institution to mean a set of ideas about how to accomplish broad social goals. In this sense, education is an institution.

As you read this chapter, think about why the institution of education became central to societies around the world during the twentieth century. Can you imagine a world without schools? How different might your life be in such a world?

KEY POINTS

• Schooling has grown tremendously over time, at every level, and in every corner of the globe. Scholars refer to this as the rise of the schooled society.

• It is commonly assumed that schools emerge and expand because people need human capital (skills) in order to get jobs.

• Sociologists offer alternative views about the growth of schooling. Some believe it reflects the efforts of elites to maintain their advantages.

• Other sociologists believe that the growth of schooling reflects the spread of ideas and cultural norms, such as a belief in the scientific method and in universal human rights, that make schooling seem particularly important and valuable.

• Some evidence can be found for each perspective. Historical evidence often supports the two sociological arguments. Quantitative studies of global trends tend to support the latter view.

INTRODUCTION

School is a universal experience for children growing up in wealthy countries like the United States. In fact, school is so commonplace, so utterly taken for granted, that we rarely question its existence. But why do we have schools in the first place? And why is there more schooling now than in the past?

This chapter describes and explores the tremendous growth of schooling over the past two centuries. Several important theories developed by sociologists of education are discussed, as well as evidence sociologists have used to evaluate these perspectives. Finally, the chapter briefly reflects on the consequences of the hyperexpansion of schooling.

THE OVERWHELMING SUCCESS OF MODERN SCHOOLING

Educators and scholars often proclaim a state of crisis in schooling, because schools do not accomplish all that we hope and desire. Yet in an important sense, schools are fantastically successful. Two centuries ago, schooling was rare around the world, mainly limited to affluent men in a handful of countries. Even fifty years ago in Europe, university matriculation was fairly uncommon. In poor countries, few children continued beyond elementary school, and hardly anyone went on to college. Now, most of the world's children get at least a basic education. College is the norm for people growing up in rich countries, and college enrollment is expanding quickly everywhere else. Schooling has also become more inclusive over the past century. Women were excluded from many kinds of education in the past, but they now attend school at higher rates than men in most parts of the world. Enrollment trends among members of disadvantaged minority groups have also improved in many places. This is not to say that all inequalities have been solved, but the overall trends in school enrollments are encouraging.

Figure 1 presents historical trends in school enrollments for the last two centuries, pieced together from different sources (adapted and updated from Schofer and Meyer 2005). As is evident, mass education expanded during the course of the nineteenth century, with a sharp...