Measuring the Effects of Socioeconomic Segregation on the First Required School Track Decision in Germany. A Small-Scale, Ego-Centered and Multiscalar Approach.

Hinrich Wildfang , University Hamburg

Space and place are aspects of the production and reproduction of social inequality in the population. This study builds on ‘classical’ empirical studies on educational attainment and school track decisions based on social origin by considering the socio-spatial context of the pupil’s residence. Germany is an interesting context in this regard because it has a highly stratified school system which requires an early decision for a school track and because afterwards, pupil’s mobility between school tracks is rare. Based on data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) from 2010-2017, the effects of living in a segregated socio-spatial context on the required school track decision in Germany are analyzed, making use of small-scale georeferenced geo-marketing data. Small-scale spatial data is generated by spatially overlaying the different spatial layers within a 100x100 meter raster from the population census 2011, enabling us to use innovative ego-centered segregation measures. First preliminary results, based on logistic regressions, indicate small but significant effects on the probability to choose the most demanding and prestigious school track (high school), depending on the magnitude of socio-economic segregation. The segregation of high and low-status households is considered. The data operationalization process, the multiscalar method and the application to the analysis of potential effects of the socio-spatial context on the required school track decision in Germany will be presented.

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 Presented in Session P3. Poster Session Migration, Economics, Environment, Methods, History and Policy