Primary and secondary social background effects at different points of transition in the education system

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Michael Becker
• Subject Area: Education Systems and Educational Institutions ; General and Domain-Specific Teaching and Learning
• Term: from 2016 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 316563965

In modern post-industrial societies, education holds a central role as it influences individual trajectories in many different ways. If societies grant opportunities in life on the basis of meritocracy and individuals are duly rewarded for their achievement, it is crucial to find out whether all members of society are given equal access to education, or whether inequalities emerge, for instance, owing to social background. In recent years, structural aspects of the tracked secondary school system were discussed as influential factors of the emergence and amplification of educational disparities in Germany. Reform measures were introduced in order to reduce educational inequalities (e.g., by fostering permeability between and/or reducing the number of school types). However, the extent to which school structural variables condition disparities in the participation of different social groups is not fully understood. Researchers are currently debating how to quantify parameters of social inequalities, and, hence, the development of such inequalities across school careers remains to be fully investigated. For example, are inequalities a consequence of already existing differences in achievement, or are inequalities a direct result of differential decision-making processes that are rooted in social rather than educational aspects? The proposed MILES research project draws on the longitudinal LAU and KESS studies conducted in the federal state of Hamburg (Germany), and studies social inequalities in educational attainment at different educational transition points with respect to school structural aspects, i.e., tracking, permeability and openness of educational careers, and the expansion of education. Referring to the microsociological model for educational careers and decision making (Boudon, 1974; Mare, 1980) the project will focus on primary and secondary effects of social background on educational success. The magnitude and development of primary (achievement-related) and secondary (non-achievement-related) background effects will be examined at four educational junctures: at the transition from primary school to lower secondary school level, after the so-called observation level at the beginning of the lower secondary school level, between lower and upper secondary school levels, and at the transition following upper secondary school level (academic studies vs. vocational training). The project will look at how primary and secondary effects change at the decision thresholds over the course of secondary school and how changes in educational demand and aspirations (as indicated by the strongly increased number of students who have reached the University entrance diploma [Abitur] between LAU and KESS) relate to patterns of educational inequality. Additionally, the project will systematically assess different estimation methods and approaches to handle missing data for the quantification of primary and secondary effects.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Kai Maaz; Dr. Marko Neumann