When sociologists write about inequalities in educational attainment, they
frequently get under way by emphasizing the extraordinary transformations
of educational institutions over the course of the 20th century. And
indeed, it is hard to imagine how to open a volume on inequalities in educational
attainment without acknowledging the significant educational expansion
and reform in all Western societies over the last century. The basic
features of expansion and reform are well known and may be summarized
as comprising three fundamental steps: the establishment of near-universal
primary education at the beginning of the 20th century