Does Irish education approach the meritocratic ideal - a logistic analysis

Abstract

The conclusion that the Irish educational system is approaching the meritocratic ideal that was advanced by Greaney and Kellaghan (1984) is re-examined using the same data but a different methodology. A logistic regression model is used to measure the direct and indirect effects of social class, ability, type of school attended, and gender on the probability of remaining in the system at each transition. Exact occupational status scores and verbal reasoning test scores are used. It is found that, after controlling for ability, social class has a substantial and significant effect at each point up to and including the completion of second-level schooling, but not on entry to higher education. Gender has no significant effect, but the type of school attended has a large effect, after controlling for class and ability. Vocational school students are much more likely than their secondary school counterparts to drop out of school at each point of their educational careers.