The role of education in the reproduction of social inequalities: The case of Afyonkarahisar Süleyman Demirel Fen Lisesi and Atatürk Lisesi

The status and the roles entailed by the status can be considered as an important data for each man in the traditional society. Man?s duty is to perform the role of the given status. For this reason, the statuses of men in the traditional societies are generally unchanging. But in modern society, status is not given by birth but it is achieved through the effort of individual. The most important means of achieving social status is education. Through education, individuals can change their social positions and can realize vertical social mobility. Equal opportunity and possibility in education should be provided to all individuals for the realization of a vertical social mobility. Otherwise, education stops being a means of vertical social mobility and becomes a means of the maintenance of existing inequalities. Education, as a means of maintaining the reproduction of social inequalities, will not perform the functions that it is expected to perform. As a matter of fact, the socioeconomic and sociocultural characteristics of the present Turkish families, determine the educational opportunities they provide for their children. The analysis of this operational mechanism has vital significance in terms of the possible suggestions for solution.In this study that aims to determine the role of education in the reproduction of social inequalities, a questionnaire form is applied in Atatürk Lisesi and Süleyman Demirel Fen Lisesi in Afyonkarahisar city center. The reason of choosing these schools is the fact that one of them accepts students having the highest points and the other accepts students without making examination. In the study, the questionnaire for is applied to total 910 students, 276 students from Fen Lisesi and 634 students from Atatürk Lisesi. The data gathered are evaluated by using chi square test. The truth of the assumptions of the study is tested in this evaluation.Key Words: Social inequalities, reproduction, education, equal opportunity in education, vertical social mobility, social status and role, natural science lise, general lise.