Secondary Education: Two Populations, Two Schools (I)

To study the socioeconomic stratification of Portugal's two types of high schools, the lyceum & the technical school, survey data were analyzed which show the distribution of socioprofessional strata, based on occupation & educational levels of the fathers, mothers, & grandfathers of 223 lyceum & 275 technical school students. The two school types recruit their students from different levels; & those who seek advanced education are found in the lyceums, rather than the technical schools. Families with only a primary level of education are significantly more likely to send their children to a technical school. Mothers of lyceum students are less often housewives, & fathers tend to be in the higher occupations, with more upward mobility than fathers of technical school students. More parents, as well as grandparents, of lyceum students have college degrees. It is concluded not only that lyceum students have an overwhelmingly higher social origin than technical school students, but that they subsequently receive more prestigious degrees; hence the divisions between the two populations tend to be perpetuated over time. 36 Tables. S. Whittle.