Critically Evaluating the Effectively Maintained Inequality Hypothesis

This paper uses data for England to test the effectively maintained inequality (EMI) hypothesis that from ‘high’ and ‘low’ socioeconomic backgrounds have qualitatively different modal destinations at a given educational level. In so doing, the paper highlights how a focus modal educational destinations seriously detracts from the usefulness of the EMI hypothesis as a for identifying qualitative educational inequalities. First, tests of the EMI hypothesis are shown be of questionable reliability because they involve calculating the predicted probabilities of educational destinations based on ultimately arbitrary operationalisations of ‘high’ and ‘low’ background, with more polarised formulations being more likely to find in favour of . Second, tests of the EMI hypothesis are shown to be of questionable validity in that it is to find in favour of EMI even when the degree of qualitative inequality is negligible and to against EMI even when the degree of qualitative inequality is substantial. These limitations have recognised by the originator of the EMI hypothesis but dismissed as unimportant. However, paper argues that these limitations are so serious that analysts seeking to identify qualitative in education should discard the focus on modal educational destinations advocated by EMI hypothesis.