Session Information
Contribution
Description: Since the 1980s, ethnic segregation has become characteristic for many schools in Europe and it seems that schools are increasingly segregating along ethnic lines. Given that the educational and occupational achievement of migrants remains behind that of indigenes, the question arises as to what extent this segregated education affects the performance and integration of ethnic minorities. Furthermore, this evolution leads policy makers to work for the dispersal of pupils, believing that the mixing of pupils of different ethnic groups will foster integration and mutual understanding. Drawing back on the intergroup contact theory (Allport) and, even more, the structural theory of Blau, this contribution examines the association between the ethnic composition of schools and the integration of allochthonous and autochthonous pupils, in terms of social participation and interethnic friendships. To date, most of the research conducted in this area focuses on the US context and employs sociometric research methods. The present research blazes a new trail and can be situated within the school effects research tradition, investigating the effect of the ethnic school composition on various indicators of integration in the Flemish educational context. Additionally, considering mechanisms as the frog pond effect, the present research investigates the relationship between the ethnic school composition and ethnic minority and majority pupils' sense of belonging at school. The importance of sense of belonging at school for various emotional as well as academic outcomes is well established, and there is some research relating sense of belonging to various school features - but as far as we know sense of belonging has seldom been related to ethnic school composition. By considering pupils' sense of belonging alongside their social participation and interethnic friendships, we aim for an understanding of the association between ethnic school composition and integration outside and inside schools.
Methodology: This study is based on the analysis of survey data administered from about 12.000 pupils - of which about 10% identified as migrants - in a representative sample of 85 schools for secondary education in Flanders. This recently developed dataset was gathered in 2004-2005 as part of the Flemish Educational Assessment (FlEA) by means of written questionnaires. For the purpose of the present research we will make use of the data of 37 schools, namely the schools offering only technical and vocational education, since solely this type of school encompasses the whole range of ethnic composition: from schools with no foreign pupils to pure 'concentration schools' with 94% pupils of ethnic minority background. This selection is also appropriate in terms of comparability. Given that we are dealing with data at different levels - namely the main determinant at school level and the dependents at pupil level - this study employs multilevel analysis (HLM6) in investigating the research questions. Care will be taken to consider the necessary control variables at school level and pupil level.
Conclusions: It is currently impossible to offer any conclusions as the data are still being prepared for analysis. However, common sense and theoretical inference suggest that ethnically mixed schools will show higher levels of interethnic friendship for both ethnic minority and majority pupils and stimulate social participation for ethnic minority pupils. As for ethnic minority pupils, we expect their sense of belonging to rise with increasing proportions of pupils of foreign origin at school, and vice versa for ethnic majority pupils. As such, we expect the overall conclusion to be that although mixed schools may be conducive to ethnic integration (integration outside school), they may have adverse effects with respect to sense of belonging at school (integration inside school).
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