Abstract

GOMEZ-NAVAS, Diana. Family, school, and educational inequalities. A state of the question. Prax. Saber [online]. 2025, vol.16, n.45, 3.  Epub Jan 13, 2026. ISSN 2216-0159.  https://doi.org/10.19053/uptc.22160159.vl6.n45.2025.18112.

We identify the main lines of research developed since the mid-1960s regarding the study of educational inequalities, focusing on the role played by the family variable. A search for studies was conducted in open and closed databases in English, French, and Spanish, followed by a qualitative analysis aimed at identifying relationships between these two variables. The results reveal that, amid processes of school democratization, the family emerges as a central variable in understanding the persistent dynamics that hinder the closing of social gaps through education. Additionally, the findings highlight how the family variable has progressively gained greater theoretical and empirical complexity. Despite its initial understanding as an expression of a social class within a structural framework, it later came to represent modes of organization, environments, and educational styles, ultimately evolving into a system of action and an agent of strategies. This progression has led to the opening of the so-called & quot;black box,& quit; shedding light on how the family's everyday educational practices influence what schools can achieve in terms of social justice.

Keywords : education; parent-school relationship; family education; social inequality; educational environments; family variable.

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