Previous sociological research has indirectly examined the association between educational expansion and inequality by analysing changes in inequality over cohorts during the expansion process. This study tests the impact of educational expansion in Spain by using the proportion of people with a specific level of education in a particular region cohort as a direct measure of expansion. More importantly, this study focuses on the intensity of the expansionary process (of one level of education) as a crucial dimension that influences inequality (in the attainment of the next level). We argue that an intense expansion may strengthen the motivation of advantaged families to increase their investments in their children’s education but limit their capacity to undertake effective educational responses, particularly during the initial stages of the expansionary process. We use the socio-demographic survey conducted in Spain in 1991, which provides representative samples for different cohorts and regions in the country, and employ multilevel modelling to analyse the effect of the phase and intensity of the expansion on inequality. Our findings show a strong positive relationship between the intensity of expansion and the level of inequality that, nonetheless, is less strong at the initial stage of the expansionary process.

中文翻译：

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教育扩张的强度：解释西班牙跨地区和群体教育不平等的关键因素

先前的社会学研究通过分析教育扩张过程中群体不平等的变化，间接研究了教育扩张与不平等之间的关联。本研究通过使用特定地区群体中具有特定教育水平的人口比例作为扩张的直接衡量标准来测试西班牙教育扩张的影响。更重要的是，本研究重点关注（一个教育水平）扩张过程的强度，作为影响不平等（达到下一水平）的关键维度。我们认为，剧烈的扩张可能会增强优势家庭增加对子女教育投资的动力，但会限制他们采取有效教育应对措施的能力，特别是在扩张过程的初始阶段。我们利用1991年在西班牙进行的社会人口调查，为该国不同人群和地区提供了代表性样本，并采用多层次模型来分析扩张的阶段和强度对不平等的影响。我们的研究结果表明，扩张强度与不平等程度之间存在很强的正相关关系，尽管如此，这种关系在扩张过程的初始阶段并不那么强烈。