Work

School of choice or schools’ choice? Intersectional correspondence testing on ethnic and class discrimination in the enrolment procedure to Flemish kindergarten

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Most research on intake focusses on the restrictions parents’ capital cause on their abilities to choose. However, the steering effect of schools in the choice-process has been neglected. We chose the Flemish context to investigate ethnic- and class-discrimination in the enrolment to kindergarten (N = 2243). The Flemish education system is known for its exceptional ‘freedom of choice’ allowing parents to enrol their children into their school of preference without restrictions. Simultaneously, the education system is highly decentralized due to the principle of ‘freedom of education’ that grants high levels of autonomy to schools in creating their school policies. Using correspondence testing, the results show that schools act as gatekeepers using subtle discriminatory strategies to keep students with an underprivileged background out.

Source: Race Ethnicity and Education

DOI: 10.1080/13613324.2020.1798379

Authors: Dounia Bourabain, Pieter-Paul Verhaeghe, Peter A. J. Stevens

Institutions: Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Ghent University

Language: English

Topic: School Choice and Performance

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Quality education

Open Access status: green

Funder: Vrije Universiteit Brussel