FROM ASCRIPTION TO ACHIEVEMENT - ORIGINS, EDUCATION AND ENTRY TO THE LABOR-FORCE IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND DURING THE 20TH-CENTURY

This paper examines the relationship between class of origin, educatio nal attainment, and class of entry to the labour force, in three cohor ts of men in the Republic of Ireland using data collected in 1987. The three cohorts comprise men born (i) before 1937; (ii) between 1937 an d 1949; and (iii) between 1950 and 1962. The paper assesses the degree of change over the three cohorts in respect of (a) the gross relation ship between origins and entry class; (b) the partial effect (controll ing for education) of origin class on entry class; (c) the partial eff ect of education (controlling for origins) on class of entry. In broad terms the liberal theory of industrialism would imply a movement, ove r the three cohorts, towards (a) increasing social fluidity; (b) a wea kening of the partial effect of origin class; (c) a strengthening of t he partial effect of education. These latter two trends should be part icularly noticeable in the youngest cohort, which would, to some degre e, have benefited from the introduction of free post-primary education in Ireland in 1967. Our results provide almost no support for these h ypotheses. We find that patterns of social fluidity in the origin/entr y relationship remain unchanged over the cohorts. The partial effect o f class remains relatively constant; and, while the partial effect of education on entry class changes over the cohorts, the most striking r esult in this area is the declining returns to higher levels of educat ion. While the average level of educational attainment increased over the three cohorts, the advantages accruing to the possession of higher levels of education simultaneously diminished. Taken together our res ults suggest that, in Ireland, those classes that have historically en joyed advantages in access to more desirable entry positions in the la bour market have been remarkably adept at retaining their advantages d uring the course of industrialization and through the various educatio nal and other labour market changes that have accompanied this process .