Multiple paths to inequality. How institutional contexts shape the educational opportunities of second-generation immigrants in Europe. Issue 2 (14th March 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Borgna, Camilla
• Is Part Of: European societies. Volume 18:Issue 2(2016)
• Page Start: 180
• Page End: 199
• Publication Date: 2016-03-14
• Subjects: Educational inequality -- immigrants -- educational systems -- tracking -- QCA -- fuzzy sets; Sociology -- Europe -- Periodicals; Europe -- Social conditions -- 20th century -- Periodicals; 301.094
• DOI: 10.1080/14616696.2015.1134801
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1461-6696

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Most cross-country studies on educational systems aim at identifying the net effects of single institutional aspects on students' outcomes. In this paper, I argue that educational systems are best conceived as configurations of interconnected elements. The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic assessment of how selected features of the educational system and of the immigration context combine in countries where second-generation immigrants severely underperform their native peers, net of socio-economic differentials. Using PISA data from 2006 and 2009, I compare the relative mathematics achievement of students with and without an immigrant background in 17 Western-European educational systems. The empirical results, based on fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, point to the existence of functional equivalents and institutional complementarities. Equally severe disadvantages can be found in the rigidly tracking systems of German-speaking and Dutch-speaking countries, but also in the highly comprehensive Scandinavian systems, where a delayed entry in the educational system is coupled with a wide distance from the language of instruction. Moreover, even in the absence of tracking, second-generation immigrants critically lag behind their native peers if they are overrepresented in schools with a poor learning environment.