A large body of research has demonstrated that friendship relations in educational contexts make an important contribution to students’ social, motivational and emotional development, as well as to their learning and achievement (Black et al., 2025; Neuendorf et al., 2025). However, peer networks can also create social structures  that disadvantage some students, including processes of exclusion, homophily, or the stabilization of unfavorable forms of social hierarchy (McKeown et al., 2015; Raufelder & Kulakow, 2022). Understanding how peer relations can enable social participation while also reproducing inequality is a key challenge for educational research. 

Addressing this issue requires a comprehensive understanding of social processes that unfold in classrooms over time (Freire et al., 2024). However, despite the growing body of network-based and developmental research, substantial knowledge gaps remain regarding (a) the developmental dynamics of peer relations across educational phases and (b) the factors that shape the stability, quality, and educational relevance of peer networks. Moreover, existing studies tend to examine either structural indicators of social embeddedness or their subjective evaluations, leaving their interplay insufficiently understood (Black et al., 2025).

This symposium addresses these research needs by systematically linking empirical findings on peer relations across the school years and different European contexts. The overarching aim of our symposium is to examine how peer relationships develop from primary through upper secondary education, how structural and qualitative dimensions of peer relations interact, and how these dynamics unfold at critical transition points. In terms of empirical research, the contributions link peer network indicators with students’ perceptions to evaluate their social experiences at school. By combining longitudinal and cross-sectional data with sociometric and psychometric measures, the symposium captures the key dimensions of peer systems.

The first contribution is based on the Swiss BOMBINI project and examines how teacher–student conflict is socially referenced by peers and shapes peer acceptance in primary school. It analyzes early processes of social positioning within classrooms and their implications for social inclusion at the start of children‘s education in primary school, emphasizing preventive leverage at this early age.

The second paper draws on data from the German SOZIUS project and analyzes changes in network indicators and psychometric variables across two measurement points, focusing on the critical educational transition to lower-secondary education. Set within a teacher-based intervention design, the study examines how pedagogical support and diagnostic practices can influence the development and stabilization of classroom networks.

The third contribution draws on a German study with students in secondary education and contrasts sociometric network indicators with students’ perceived embeddedness and relationship quality. It demonstrates that perceived relationship quality and embeddedness are more closely linked to students’ satisfaction and well-being than the number of social ties, thereby challenging purely structural interpretations of peer integration.

The fourth paper, based on a large-scale Finnish longitudinal study, adopts a person-centered perspective to identify peer relationship profiles from childhood to adolescence and examines their predictive power for later socioemotional functioning and on-time graduation from upper secondary education. This contribution provides evidence of long-term consequences of peer relationship patterns across school trajectories.

Taken together, the four contributions cover a wide developmental range from primary school to the end of upper-secondary education, and enable cross-national reflection across Switzerland, Germany, and Finland. The symposium addresses practically relevant and theoretically informed questions concerning informative indicators of peer relations across school stages and outcomes, pedagogical practices that foster classroom cohesion without reinforcing exclusion or homophily, and educational transitions that support inclusion and equitable social participation. The discussant will synthesize the findings and reflect on convergences and divergences across educational systems and methodological perspectives, framing implications for theory, research, and practice.

Black, A., Warstadt, M. F., & Mamas, C. (2025). It's who you know: a review of peer networks and academic achievement in schools.Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1444570. Freire, S., Roçadas, C., Pipa, J., & Aguiar, C. (2024). Classroom social networks, students’ peer-related social experiences and sense of belonging: The specific case of students with SEN. British Educational Research Journal, 50(9), 1617–1635. McKeown, S., Stringer, M., & Cairns, E. (2015). Classroom segregation: where do studentssit and howisthisrelatedtogrouprelations? British Educational Research Journal, 42(1), 40–55 Neuendorf, C., Masuda, N., & Murayama, K. (2025, April 21). The structure of classroom social networks predicts educational outcomes. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/krcdm_v1 Raufelder, D., & Kulakow, S. (2022). The role of social belonging and exclusion at school and the teacher–student relationship for the development of learned helplessness in adolescents.British Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(1), 59–81.