This is the introduction into the first of multiple themed issues of International Journal of Comparative Sociology (IJCS) that are dedicated to the role of education systems as institutional settings on the reproduction of inequalities. While Introduction I presents the research program, outlines a conceptual background and discusses methodological challenges in the study of how education systems shape inequalities, introductions to the successive themed issues will deal with the current state-of-research and finally with research desiderata in terms of an outlook. The contributions will be presented at the end of each introduction. The contributions of this themed issue focus on the role of country characteristics during early childhood and the role of shadow education on educational inequalities.

这是《国际比较社会学杂志》（IJCS）多个主题期刊的第一期，该主题致力于教育系统作为不平等再现的制度环境的作用。绪论一介绍了研究计划，概述了概念背景并讨论了教育体系如何塑造不平等现象的研究方法中的挑战，而相继的主题问题的引言将解决当前的研究现状，并最终解决研究问题。前景。贡献将在每次介绍的末尾介绍。这个主题问题的贡献集中在幼儿期国家特征的作用以及影子教育对教育不平等的作用。