This document summarizes a paper presented at a conference on educational stratification in contemporary societies. The paper examines elite private secondary education in Greece and how it relates to social stratification. A survey was conducted of 1003 students from 13 well-known private schools in Athens. The survey aimed to show how families' social backgrounds influence their choice of private school and the educational and social benefits they expect. It also examined internal hierarchies that separate top private schools from less prestigious ones. The results emphasized the social backgrounds of families, internal differentiation among elite private schools, and their relationship to Greece's social stratification.

1. ELITE PRIVATE SECONDARY EDUCATION IN GREECE:
CLASS STRATEGIES AND EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES
Despoina Valassi
Sociologist
University of Crete
Paper presented at the Midterm Conference 2010 of the Sociology of Education
Research Network of the European Sociological Association
“Educational Stratification in Contemporary Societies: selection, sorting and
detracking features, processes and outcomes”
Panteion University of Political and Social Studies, Athens, Greece
30 September & 1 October , 2010
(DRAFT VERSION, PLEASE CONTACT AUTHOR BEFORE CITING)
Abstract
The results of various studies in the sociology of education have made it clear that there is a significant correlation
between the education system in place at any time and the social stratification of a society. The purpose of the
presentation will be to provide a comprehensive sociological approach to the basic characteristics of elite private
secondary education in Greece, as a distinctive ‘social space’, according to Pierre Bourdieu’s theory. Entry to such schools
has been seen as a passport towards academic success, providing access to high status universities and to prosperous and
influential careers. Greece has a significant history of private educational institutions. Yet their history and role within the
Greek educational system and society at large has been consistently neglected. In comparison with the academic
traditions of other European and western countries (Weinberg, 1967, Wakeford, 1969, Karabel, 1972, Cookson & Persell,
1985, Walford, 1991, Maxwell & Maxwell, 1995) the study of elite private education has been even more neglected, as
has that of its relationship with the social reproduction of the upper and middle classes in Greece. Bourdieu, along with
such researchers as Collins (1971) and Ball (2003) sees the education system as the principal institution controlling the
allocation of status and privilege in contemporary societies. In order to form a better idea of this relationship we
conducted a quantitative field survey at 13 well-known private schools in Athens, using a questionnaire. By means of the
field survey we collected a total of 1003 questionnaires completed by students in the final year of secondary education in
the particular private schools, and then subjected the responses to statistical processing. The purpose of our research
was to show the correlation between the choice of specific private schools for the children of certain families, the social
background of these families and the benefits, educational and social, which they expect to accrue from this choice. At
the same time we have tried to show the way in which these factors relate to the current educational system and social
stratification in Greece. A second factor we have studied involved the examination of the internal differentiation of elite
private schools, examining the hierarchical structures that appear to arise and which separate the very top private schools
from the less prestigious private schools. Finally, the third factor we attempted to examine involved differences in taste,
lifestyle, educational choices and professional aspirations of students. The paper will set out the results of this empirical
research emphasising the social background of these families, the internal differentiation of elite private schools and their
st
relation to the social stratification of Greek society at the beginning of the 21 century.
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