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In 1993, a landmark book in comparative stratification appeared. Persistent Inequality, edited by Yossi Shavit and Hans-Peter Blossfeld (Westview Press), showed that for 11 of 13 nations in eastern and western Europe, North America, and Asia, the effect of social class origins on educational attainment was remarkably stable during the twentieth century, with no sign of the reduction of inequality predicted by those who viewed industrial and postindustrial society as a harbinger of universalism and equal opportunity. Educational expansion allowed more people to stay in school longer, but the underlying relation between social class and school completion did not change. Sweden and the Netherlands were the exceptions to this trend, the only two countries in which social inequality of educational attainment appeared to have diminished.
Can Education be Equalized? explores the Swedish case in much greater detail. Robert Erikson and Jan O. Jonsson, the editors and principal authors, sketch the Swedish educational system and offer details about changes in Swedish education and the economy, providing a context for understanding Sweden as a case study. They also reaffirm earlier findings about the downward trend in inequality of educational attainment in Sweden, attempt to discern causes for this trend, and explore trends in the effects of education on labor market success. Additional chapters by Walter Muller, by Jonsson, Colin...