A LLAKES Briefing event:
Education, opportunity and social cohesion
Tuesday 28 June, 17.00-19.00, Registration 17.00-17.30
Room 739, Institute of Education, followed by a canapé reception
In this briefing event, Professor Andy Green and Dr Germ Janmaat will draw on recent LLAKES research to highlight current threats to social cohesion from declining job opportunities and persistent inequalities in education and incomes. The education system is a crucial arbiter of life chances. Where it is perceived to distribute opportunities equitably, it can provide legitimacy for the social and political order and thus promote social cohesion. However, in the UK educational outcomes are exceptionally unequal. Declining job opportunities, particularly for young people, coupled with high levels of inequality, threaten to weaken core beliefs in individual opportunity and just rewards and to erode the social and political trust on which social cohesion depends.
There will be a response from Dr. Floyd Millen, Director of the new public affairs think tank –yesMinister.
Attendance at the event is free, but places should be booked in advance via llakesevents@ioe.ac.uk.
Information about LLAKES
LLAKES is an ESRC-funded research centre, based at the Institute of Education, University of London. LLAKES researchers are studying the bonds holding together different societies, and the role that education systems play in promoting – or undermining – social cohesion in different contexts. The research brings together the findings from different social science disciplines and uses a variety of empirical methods and data sources to explore these issues. Datasets analysed include the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA); the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS); various rounds of the World Values Survey/European Values Study (WVS/EVS), the European Social Survey (ESS), Eurobarometer and the Civic Education Study (Cived). Various analytical methods have been employed, including correlations, time series analysis, cluster analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis and multilevel analysis.
Education IS the arbiter for life change, in fact, it seems like it is necessary to get ahead these days. I think it would be beneficial for industry leaders to promote online education, which is becoming a growing alternative option for higher education. Thoughts?