Introduction The analysis below entails a discourse on sociology and theoretical foundation of education. The discussion address organizational and institutional issues that influence the role of the education system in reproducing social structures. Social issues such as ethnicity race and socio-economic are extensively addressed. The discourse concludes with a proposed policy recommendation of an education system that consolidates education and economic growth.

Education System and Social Order

The robustness of the meritocratic ideology in the education system remains a critical constraint to realizing social and economic equality in the US. The dominant perspective is evident in the employment culture in mainstream institutions in the US such as the government bureaus, factories, schools, offices among others (Bowles & Gintis, 1976). In a capitalized society such as the US, the legitimization of meritocratic hiring is a norm and made the hierarchical job-division a custom. The perspective has reinforced the ideology that technical skills have a causal relationship with economic productivity which is the foundation of the cognitive theory and the technocratic-meritocratic theory (Bowles & Gintis, 1976). Arguably, the role of the education system is the social continuity of life which is realized by integrating the youth into the society and subsequently narrowing economic disparities. (Breeben, 1968; Bowles & Gintis, 1976). Nevertheless, the education system ability to promote social order is constrained by existing property and market institutions that reproduce economic inequality through uneven development, uneven income from property and wider inequalities of social relations of corporate enterprises. Subsequently, as opposed to reducing the inequalities, the education system has been criticized for legitimizing the preexisting economic inequalities (Bowles & Gintis, 1976).

As Bowles & Gintis (1976) identifies, the assigning of unequal economic positions through competitive based, meritocratic, open and objective approach by the education system is the foundation for legitimization of economic inequality. The education system provides structures such meritocratic principles as the bases of assessment of technical and cognitive skills which forms the premise of ideologies such as the cognitive achievement and length of education as the precursor for individual economic success. Bowles & Gintis (1976) indicates that cognitive skills are a minimal component of economic success as empirical evidence different economic status for people with similar cognitive scores. As Breeben (1968) notes the formulation of the education system as a tool to distinguish students academic achievement with limited consideration of psychological capacities, which is later used to stratify people in the job market. Bowles & Gintis (1976) faults such facades and argues that educational meritocracy as extensively symbolic and largely entrenched in the American consciousness.

According to Bowles & Gintis (1976) the façade educational meritocracy as the custom for individual economic success yields from dominant classes who in pursuit of stable social order have continuously underscored the meritocracy bounding development of alternatives and evolution of social structures. Bowles & Gintis (1976) identifies capitalism as a legitimized social system in the US and characterizes the US work dynamism as hierarchical authority, bureaucratic, job stratification and differential wages which arguably. As opposed to creating an egalitarian process that equally distributes opportunities, the capitalist social system unconsciously evolved into social inequality.

The legitimation of the meritocratic façade creates a stratified, cognitive and competitive oriented school environment that subjectively shapes the student's career aspirations. For example, failure by students to achieve some criteria in test over time convinces the student of their inability in that particular field of study that later reconciles the students to tier social positions and attributing poverty as an outcome of educational failure faulting the rationality of the meritocratic orientation in serving economic rationality (Bowles & Gintis, 1976). The irony of the competitive meritocratic system is the legitimization of psychological behavior such as cheating in an attempt to meet standards of excellence (Breeben, 1968).

Similarly, the conservative genetic approach supported by the theory of IQ social inequality hypothesizes social background as an essential determinant of IQ and subsequently a determinant of cognitive skills implying that people from low socioeconomic class have lower IQ. However, (Breeben, 1968) identifies that success in performing is not entirely on acquired technical skills but as well as psychological skills. The IQ theory of social inequality legitimizes the meritocratic theory. Compelling empirical evidence refutes the technocratic-meritocratic theory by identifying an open enrolment system as a counter approach for the ostensibly meritocratic oriented selective enrolment resulting in rationality, efficiency, and equity of the US education system. Closely linked to the IQ theory is the genetic theory that posits that genetic transmission of economic status irrespective...

The tenet for the theory is lower social status is linked to lower IQ while higher social status is linked to higher IQ. The argument on the heritability of IQ emphasizes the racial inequality and the concept that economic status is inheritable from the parents. A counterargument for the genetic tenet is a progressive and pervasive social and economic difference based on social classes reproduces intergenerational mobility hypothesizing that intellectual capabilities are a manifestation of social status.
The resistance theory contradicts the IQ reproduction theories by hypothesizing inexistence of congruence between IQ and socioeconomic status (Bowles & Gintis, 1976). Although the theory asserts to the argument the privileges and powers of a capitalist system are inheritable, it faults that superiority of genes is linked to socio-economic status implying economic poverty is not congruent to genes of the poor. The resistance theory is the foundation of a new stratification of society not based on the traditional reproduction theories. A school characterized by open enrolment devoid of meritocracy and entailing racial and social group indifference which is imperative in handling the contemporary education dynamics. Such a system addresses the bias of self-selection in the education system with people across the different socioeconomic backgrounds experiencing an equal educational opportunity.

Education Stratification and Capital

The interlinkage of culture and education and reproduction of social structures has increasingly attracted research interest (Lamont & Annette, 1988). Bourdieu (1973) defines the education system as intergenerational mobility of accumulated information which Durkheim refers as the...…technical efficiency forms foundation for economic growth, modernization, and development. Economic analysis of economic growth between 1929 and 1957 identified 0.93% annual rate of increase in quality of labor linked to education. Confirming the findings of the economic analysis, studies in the late 20th century identifies the contribution of increased labor productivity to economic growth.

Over the centuries, worldwide economic progress has been linked to an expanding education system and increased education enrollment. The discrepancies in economic growth have to some extent being linked to the scientific and mathematical development in education system increasing the curriculum emphasis on science and mathematics (Ramirez, et al., 2006). The argument is supported by the conjecture that productive engineers and scientist as an outcome of a curriculum that largely emphasizes greater achievement in engineering and natural science simultaneously. Extant studies have demonstrated that increasing scientific publications and patent application that reflects an improved national research capacity yields a positive effect on economic growth. For example, Ramirez, et al., (2006) identifies a positive effect of student’s achievement in science and mathematics on economic growth. Consequently, the general theory that economic growth is grounded on quality of schooling has become pervasive.

A panel data analysis by Ramirez, et al., (2006) identifies that nations that strongly enforce prodevelopment policies such as the Asian Tigers of Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hongkong have a science and mathematics-oriented schooling system. The analysis further links Japanese economic progress in the 1980s to a primary and secondary schooling system that has an intense science and mathematics-oriented curriculum. Accordingly, Ramirez, et al. (2006) findings of rapidly growing economies in the 20th century characterized by scarcity of natural resources infer that science and mathematics achievement as a fundamental variable for economic growth. The findings exemplify the significance of human-capital development. However, the findings confound the trends in mainstream developed countries that realized development in the 19th century such as the US whose development is rather linked to the abundance of natural resources (Ramirez, et al., 2006). The above argument underlies the significance of a science-oriented schooling system implying the significance of adopting policy directives that incentivize increased enrolment in science and engineering fields in higher education.

A critical challenge in instituting an effective education system is the dynamism if social background created by the western capitalist system (Turner, 1960). The capitalist system has been faulted for restricting access to people from particular social backgrounds. Accordingly, caution has to be instituted to ensure that the educational policies do not exacerbate the academic achievement gap based on social inequality which is evident in the capitalist western systems. Turner (1960) identifies social status as the prize of quality of education in a capitalist environment with the high standing people interacting of people from only similar hierarchies which creates a criterion for stratification of schools. The proposed system should, therefore, transfer proportionate social good to the disadvantaged in the society to ensure the equitable compensatory role of the education system (Turner, 1960).

References

Bourdieu, P. (1973).…