Private Schooling and the Status Attainment Process

This paper examines the effects of a private school education on educational, occupational, and earnings attainments. Specifically, using subsamples of respondents *vho attended private schools only and public schools only from the Occupational Changes in a Generation survey, the so-called private school advantage and its function in transmitting background-related advantages is analyzed. Although it ivas found that educational and occupational attainments are not significantly affected by private school attendance, earnings for those wvho attended private schools only are considerably greater than for those wvho attended public schools only vhen appropriate background characteristics are controlled. This seems to be due not only to a ceiling effect on earnings, but also to a substantial amount of status inheritance in the lives of private school graduates.