Social inequality in (post-)secondary educational careers: The relevance of spatial contexts

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The aim of the proposed research project is to understand how mechanisms that can be located in socio-structural contexts contribute towards explaining social disparities in the later educational career, i.e. how they are associated with educational aspirations and transitions to and within vocational training, further general schooling and higher education. Existing concepts of contextual settings such as neighbourhoods, local labour markets and peer influences are enhanced in the form of a more flexible conceptualisation of spatial contexts. A testable research model has already been developed during the first funding period of the SPP1646. This systematic conceptualisation of socio-structural spatial contexts and their interaction with other explanatory context levels is applied in the upcoming research phase. We focus on later educational stages because they are likely to be affected by a greater variety of socio-economic characteristics of the surrounding contexts. Furthermore, regional mobility is much more relevant at an age when the general school career is about to be completed. The two-sided process of educational transitions is reflected in the supply and demand side of education: When explaining the individual demand for education, subjective educational attitudes and wishes play a crucial role. Therefore, a first project line aims at analysing to what extent socio-structural contexts shape educational aspirations towards a general level of education and an occupational qualification. To capture educational transition processes as completely as possible, a second project line focuses on integrating the supply side of education when analysing the actual outcomes of specific transitions within the phase of occupational qualification. The project builds upon conceptual work, extensive data preparation and already accomplished results from the first SPP1646 funding period and will deepen and enlarge empirical evidence on the influence of socio-economic and socio-structural contexts on educational transitions during the later educational career. By combining administrative and survey data from selected cohorts of the National Educational Panel Study NEPS and by adapting spatial regression techniques, the project contributes to further developments in the area of data and methods. It may also be of specific relevance for policy makers concerned with training provision and regional development.