There has been little research on the educational achievement of Muslim pupils to date in Scotland and there is limited data on achievement of different religious groups.   Administrative data mainly relates to ethnic rather than religious background; however, ethnic background can be used as a proxy for Muslims in certain cases (see e.g. Strand, 2007, Burgess et al, 2009).   Earlier research and administrative data have shown poor academic performance among minority ethnic groups including Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupils. Whilst these differences in achievement between ethnic minority groups are in evidence, Hills et al. (2010) found that educational and economic differences between minority ethnic groups have been diminishing over time within the UK.  In contrast, they noted that differences within groups relating to social class have been widening. This is consonant with the general trend across Europe, where economic inequality has been widening since the 1980s, particularly in countries with neo-liberal regimes such as the UK (OECD, 2007). Social class differences are mediated by both gender and ethnicity, with socially disadvantaged boys from minority ethnic groups having particularly poor educational outcomes.   The UK, in particular England,  presents a particular case where neo-liberal market policies provide a greater choice of different types of schools than in continental Europe.  However, there are indications that the situation in Europe is changing (Butler and van Zanten, 2007); whilst this paper focuses on Scotland, the issues raised are likely to be relevant in other developed countries. Education, conceived as a positional good, has become particularly important in either gaining or underpinning middle class status. 

The literature examining educational aspirations and achievement among a number of ethnic minority groups is larger but mainly focused on England which has a different education system from Scotland.  Although Pakistani pupils in England have attainment levels below average at school, a higher proportion of pupils from this ethnic group go on to higher education than White pupils (Shah et al, 2010). 

This paper explores the aspirations of Muslim families drawing on social, cultural and ethnic capital.  Social capital is not a new concept and is often attributed to Bourdieu who defined it as: ‘the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network … membership in a group’ (cited in Plagen, 2011: 43).  Cultural capital also stems from Bourdieu and has been defined in a number of ways.  Andersen and Hansen refer to two interpretations: the narrow interpretation which focuses mainly on ‘high’ culture; and the broader interpretation which also includes general linguistic skills, habits and knowledge including cognitive skills (Andersen and Hansen, 2012).  Shah and colleagues developed the concept of cultural capital a stage further into ethnic cultural capital.  This they described as ‘familial or ethnic shared norms and values as contributing to educational achievement among immigrant groups’ (Shah, et al: 2010: 1110). 

The presentation uses social, cultural and ethnic cultural capital to examine the aspirations and outcomes for Muslim pupils in Scottish schools.  It addresses the following questions:

• What are the educational achievements (based on administrative data) of Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupils in Scotland and how does this compare to England and other European countries?
• What is the role of social, cultural and ethnic cultural capital in the achievement of Muslim families’ educational aspirations and is there a need to consider ‘ethno religious capital?
• To what extent do socioeconomic factors affect educational outcomes of ethnic minority pupils and is there evidence for an increasing gap within ethnic minority groups?

Andersen, P. and Hansen, M. (2012) Class and cultural capital – the case of class inequality in educational performance, European Sociological Review, 28, 5, pp. 607-621 Burgess, S., Greaves, E. and Wilson, D. (2009) An investigation of educational outcomes by ethnicity and religion: a report for the National Equality Panel, Bristol: CMPO, University of Bristol Butler, T. and van Zanten, A. (2007) School choice: a European perspective, Journal of Educational Policy, Vol. 22, 1, pp. 1-5 Hills, J., Brewer, M., Jenkins, S., Lister, R., Lupton, R., Machin, S., Mills, C., Modood, T., Rees, T. and Riddell, S. (2010) An anatomy of economic inequality in the UK, London: London School of Economics Hills, J., Cuncliffe, J. Gambaro, L. and Obolenskaya, P. (2013) Winners and losers in the crisis: the changing anatomy of economic inequality in the UK 2007-2010, Research Report 2, London: CASE, London School of Economics OECD (2007), Quality and Equity of Schooling Scotland, Paris: OECD Plagens, G. (2011) Social capital and education: implications for student and school performance, Education and Culture, 27, 1, pp. 40-64 Shah, B., Dwyer, C. and Modood, T. (2010) Explaining educational achievement and career aspirations among young British Pakistanis: mobilizing ‘ethnic capital’? Sociology, Vol. 44, No. 6, pp. 1109-1127 Strand, S. (2007) Minority ethnic pupils in the longitudinal study of young people in England (LSYPE), Warwick: University of Warwick Weedon, E., Riddell, S., McCluskey, G. and Konstantoni, K. (2013) Muslim families’ educational experiences in England and Scotland, final report, Edinburgh: CREID, University of Edinburgh