Thread by @docrussjackson

#THREAD

“There is a notable direct association between private schooling in the mid-1980s & later voting Conservative, & the expression of right-wing attitudes in mid-life, which cannot be explained by family background & related factors.”

#ToryBritain

es.britsoc.co.uk/privately-educ…

The political attitudes of many of those who attended private school during the 80s & 90s are important, since a disproportionate number of them have reached positions of substantive influence, such as MPs, senior judiciary, the press commentariat & CEOs of FTSE companies.

People educated privately were twice as likely to have been consistent Conservative voters, defined as voting for the party in three or four of the four general elections.

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1648711853109911553?s=20

People educated privately were one and half times as likely to hold right-wing opinions as state-educated people.

The evidence for these effects was over and above the combined influence of their parents’ income, education and social class on them.

Private education had more effect on men voting Conservative than it did upon women. It had little effect upon men’s holding right-wing views, but a much larger effect upon women’s right-wing views.

Getting a degree tended to make people less likely to vote Conservative, but did not make them more or less likely to hold right-wing views.

The researchers say they were investigating what “may be interpreted as a type of peer effect, whereby attitudes and assumptions are absorbed from other pupils and sometimes from teachers.”

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1383739048271908866?s=20

“Given that a private school community can become relatively closed – especially when it is a boarding school – these peer effects have a strong social character. Such peer effects may be long-lasting, especially if they become reinforced through post-school networks.”

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1653359949089579010?s=20