How School Choice Leads to Segregation : An Analysis of Structural and Symbolic Boundaries at Play

• In this chapter we analyze the pathways through which school choice leads to segregation in the multicultural setting of Malmö, Sweden and in relation to an elite-oriented program, the natural science program. As a result of school choice reforms this program has grown rapidly in recent years, as has the number of students with an immigrant background attending it. In this chapter we examine whether the latter is to be interpreted as a sign of increased integration, or whether segregation persists within the program; that is, whether these high-performing students who have chosen the same elite program still end up in different schools, depending on their social and ethnic background. Thereafter we examine the extent to which any segregation that is indeed found can be explained by students’ “free” choices, and the extent to which these choices are restricted by previous school performance. We use the concepts of structural and symbolic boundaries and examine the importance of each, using a combination of register and survey data. Both structural and symbolic boundaries are found to restrict students’ school choices in a way that, on the municipality level, creates segregation. Roughly half of the school choices found with regard to immigrant status can be attributed to differences in grades. But we find that, in addition, the most attractive schools sustain a symbolic boundary, based on Swedishness and whiteness and intertwined with a performance culture, which makes these schools less accessible to students with an immigrant background. One conclusion, therefore, is that school segregation is unlikely to be solved within the present school system; at least not until the symbolic boundaries now influencing school choice are “blurred” or dissolved.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

school choice

symbolic boundaries

strukcural boundaries

ethnicity

Sociologi med utbildningsvetenskaplig inriktning

Sociology Education

Sociologi med utbildningsvetenskaplig inriktning

Sociology Education

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kap (ämneskategori)