(In)Equality of Opportunity, Mentoring, and Critical Educational Decisions

Host: Emma

Abstract: Inequality of opportunity occurs when two children with the same abilities and academic performance are sent to different quality schools because their parents differ in socio-economic status. Based on a novel dataset for Germany, we demonstrate that children are 23 (36) percent less likely to enter the highest quality school type if their parents are poor (low educated), even after conditioning on a rich set of ability and performance measures. We then provide causal evidence that a low-intensity mentoring program can reduce inequality of opportunity and boost children's education outcomes.