A Tale of Two Histories

Abstract

Over the past 40 years in Britain, the differences in the overall life-chances of the highest and lowest strata of the class hierarchy have not reduced; this includes life-chances in education. In contrast, the differences in those chances between women and men have been greatly ameliorated and, in the case of education, have almost disappeared. Language and its use are argued to have been relevant to the fates of members of both social categories, and reasons for the different outcomes are suggested and discussed.