Effect of Educational Expansion on Educational Inequality in Post-industrialized Societies: A Cross-cultural Comparison of Japan and the United States of America

• Published in: International journal of Japanese sociology : IJJS 2004-11, Vol.13 (1), p.100-119
• Main Author: Kikkawa, Toru
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cross-cultural analysis; Developed countries; Education; Gender; Inequality; Japan; Non-linear models; Social change; U.S.A
• ISSN: 0918-7545; 1475-6781
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-6781.2004.00056.x

:  This paper analyzes the relationship between educational expansion and educational inequality. I first reconsider the conceptual basis of educational expansion, noting that in post‐industrialized societies, people's educational attainment is no longer measurable in a simple temporal increase because of the recent leveling‐off in the younger generation. I then review the theoretical framework of educational inequality. After presenting a summary of related studies, I provide a multilevel regression model that examines the macro/cohort influence of educational expansion on educational inequality in Japan and the United States. The following propositions are derived from my analyses: Educational expansion has functioned to dissolve both the socio‐economic and the cultural‐educational reproduction processes in Japan; meanwhile, inequality in terms of micro coefficients remains. In the United States, both the magnitude of gender inequality and the influence of the socio‐economic reproduction process are smaller than in Japan. The macro/cohort effects of educational expansion are generally smaller in the United States. This is true despite the fact that educational expansion significantly dissolves gender inequality in the United States, while educational expansion has little to do with gender equalization in Japan. My comparison of the model's fit concludes that the trajectory of educational equalization follows the two‐fold consequence of educational expansion. In sum, these results show that in conjunction with the non‐linear sequence of educational attainment in the post‐industrialized phase of development, the macro/cohort influence of educational expansion as well as the micro structure of educational inequality undergo gradual transformations.