The proposed symposium is based on the quantitative data analysis output stemming from the Horizon 2020 PIONEERED project “Pioneering policies and practices tackling educational inequalities in Europe” (https://www.pioneered-project.eu). The project encompasses nine European countries and aims to uncover the mechanisms behind the persisting educational inequalities, as well as to offer science-based policy advice.

Empirical findings presented here are a part of a larger analytical work based on the exploration of national and cross-national quantitative data focusing on inequalities throughout the various educational stages (primary, secondary, and tertiary), including the trajectories and transitions, as well as both the formal and non-formal/informal educational settings. To bring together the drivers of educational inequalities and the complexity of their interactions on the one hand, and varying education systems on the other, the analyses rely on a comprehensive methodological framework proposed in the project, which combines the multi-level, intersectional, and life-courseperspectives (abbr. MILC). The Multi-level approach determines the contribution of socio-economic and educational policies (macro-) through the schools, neighborhoods (meso-), and individual and family circumstances (micro-level) on educational outcomes. Individual-level predictors, such as socio-economic origin, gender, migration background are well-known axes of inequality. However, as we empirically show, it is their combinations, i.e. an intersection of these axes, that have a differentiated impact on educational outcomes. Thus, the Intersectional approach provides a nuanced understanding of the importance of each of this axis for a specific outcome, as well as across educational careers and contexts (e.g. between countries). The Life-course approach suggests that educational inequalities occur in cumulative manner, leading to a particular individual school path.

The three contributions in this symposium refer to these (or a combination of) approaches when answering research questions related to drivers of inequalities such as school admission age, school segregation and composition, and sense of belonging.

The first presentation analyses the effect of age cut-off at the beginning of school on achievement at the start and later along the educational path in the North-Western part of Switzerland. This is an example of school policy (at the macro-level), where an arbitrary decision with respect to cut-off age for school admission, has a concrete effect on student’s achievement that extends beyond the primary education (cumulative disadvantage). While empirical explorations exist in the US, this study is among very few that investigates this question in European context. The study is important as the unique data allows analyzing the achievement gap over time (life-course). Additionally, given the high-stratification of the education system, this study provides key evidence on the relevance of age cut-off on track placement in secondary education.

The second presentation focuses on school-segregation and the long-term consequences for achievement and attainment in Luxembourg, that is known for its multilingual and highly-stratified education system with a large share of immigrant students. Following the multi-level, intersectional and life-course approaches, the authors empirically test the effect of primary school composition on achievement (math and German language) and attainment (academic vs other school tracks) in secondary education. The emphasis of the paper is on three major inequality axes: social origin, migration status and gender.

The third presentation studies how the sense of belonging within learning environment varies across educational stages: primary, secondary and tertiary, focusing on the same inequality axes mentioned above (intersectional approach). This is a comparative study with more than 30 countries that attempts to explain the variation among concerned groups by including key macro-level indicators (multi-level approach). While sense of belonging is less frequently studied in the realm of educational outcomes, existing studies have largely proved its importance for school success and a general well-being of young children and youth.

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