Immigrant and social background in education – a quantitative analysis of their interplay (ISBE)
Project Description
In Germany, inequality of opportunity in education persists. Research shows that students from families with low socioeconomic status and a migration history tend to perform less well in school and, on average, attain lower educational qualifications.
However, because social background and migration history are rarely considered in conjunction, such findings often fail to capture the full diversity of students’ background and their experiences. On the one hand, migration-related experiences vary greatly; for example, they differ in terms of country of origin or length of stay in Germany. On the other hand, we assume that these experiences interact with the socioeconomic status of the family in complex ways. Moreover, family-related factors, such as parents’ educational expectations, the extent of support they provide with learning, or their familiarity with the education system can also matter in shaping a child’s educational trajectory.
The central aim of this project is to examine the interplay between social background, migration history, family circumstances, and gender. The analysis is based on data from more than 300,000 students collected in large-scale studies conducted in Germany. In addition to academic performance, we also consider other indicators of educational success such as motivation, socio-emotional factors, educational transitions, and final educational attainment.
For this project, our research group is collaborating with Prof. Dr. Michael Becker's research group at TU Dortmund, Center for Research on Education and School Development (IFS).
Research Team
Principal Investigators:
Prof. Dr. Aileen Edele (HU Berlin, BIM)
Prof. Dr. Michael Becker (TU Dortmund; IFS)
Co-Principal Investigator:
Dr. Kristin Schotte (HU Berlin, BIM)
Researchers:
Dr. Lena Hofbauer (HU Berlin, BIM)
Maximilian Brinkmann (TU Dortmund, IFS)
Student Researchers:
Eric Germersdorf (HU Berlin, BIM)
Tina Petersen (TU Dortmund, IFS)
Funding Information
The project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG): https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/545913872
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