Primary and secondary social background effects at different points of transition in the education system

在现代后工业社会中，教育发挥着核心作用，因为它以许多不同的方式影响着个人的发展轨迹。如果社会在任人唯贤的基础上给予生活中的机会，并且个人因其成就而得到适当的奖励，那么查明是否所有社会成员都有平等的受教育机会，或者是否由于社会背景而出现不平等现象是至关重要的。近年来，跟踪中学系统的结构方面作为德国教育差距出现和扩大的影响因素进行了讨论。采取了改革措施以减少教育不平等（例如，通过促进学校类型之间的渗透和/或减少学校类型的数量）。然而，学校结构变量在多大程度上影响了不同社会群体参与的差异还没有完全了解。研究人员目前正在讨论如何量化社会不平等的参数，因此，这种不平等在学校生涯中的发展仍有待全面调查。例如，不平等是已经存在的成就差异的结果，还是不平等是根植于社会而非教育方面的不同决策过程的直接结果？拟议的MILES研究项目借鉴了在联邦州汉堡（德国）进行的纵向LAU和KESS研究，研究了不同教育转型点在学校结构方面的教育成就社会不平等，即教育职业的跟踪、渗透率和开放性，以及教育的扩张。参考教育事业和决策的微观社会学模型（Boudon, 1974; Mare, 1980），该项目将侧重于社会背景对教育成功的主要和次要影响。小学（与成就相关）和中学（与成就无关）背景效应的大小和发展将在四个教育阶段进行检查：从小学到初中阶段的过渡阶段，在初中阶段开始的所谓观察阶段之后，在初中和高中阶段之间，以及高中阶段之后的过渡阶段（学术研究与职业培训）。该项目将研究在中学阶段的决策阈值上，初级和次级影响是如何变化的，以及教育需求和愿望的变化（如劳和KESS之间获得大学入学文凭（Abitur）的学生人数大幅增加所表明的）与教育不平等模式的关系。此外，该项目将系统地评估不同的估计方法和方法，以处理缺失的数据，以量化主要和次要影响。

In modern post-industrial societies, education holds a central role as it influences individual trajectories in many different ways. If societies grant opportunities in life on the basis of meritocracy and individuals are duly rewarded for their achievement, it is crucial to find out whether all members of society are given equal access to education, or whether inequalities emerge, for instance, owing to social background. In recent years, structural aspects of the tracked secondary school system were discussed as influential factors of the emergence and amplification of educational disparities in Germany. Reform measures were introduced in order to reduce educational inequalities (e.g., by fostering permeability between and/or reducing the number of school types). However, the extent to which school structural variables condition disparities in the participation of different social groups is not fully understood. Researchers are currently debating how to quantify parameters of social inequalities, and, hence, the development of such inequalities across school careers remains to be fully investigated. For example, are inequalities a consequence of already existing differences in achievement, or are inequalities a direct result of differential decision-making processes that are rooted in social rather than educational aspects? The proposed MILES research project draws on the longitudinal LAU and KESS studies conducted in the federal state of Hamburg (Germany), and studies social inequalities in educational attainment at different educational transition points with respect to school structural aspects, i.e., tracking, permeability and openness of educational careers, and the expansion of education. Referring to the microsociological model for educational careers and decision making (Boudon, 1974; Mare, 1980) the project will focus on primary and secondary effects of social background on educational success. The magnitude and development of primary (achievement-related) and secondary (non-achievement-related) background effects will be examined at four educational junctures: at the transition from primary school to lower secondary school level, after the so-called observation level at the beginning of the lower secondary school level, between lower and upper secondary school levels, and at the transition following upper secondary school level (academic studies vs. vocational training). The project will look at how primary and secondary effects change at the decision thresholds over the course of secondary school and how changes in educational demand and aspirations (as indicated by the strongly increased number of students who have reached the University entrance diploma [Abitur] between LAU and KESS) relate to patterns of educational inequality. Additionally, the project will systematically assess different estimation methods and approaches to handle missing data for the quantification of primary and secondary effects.