“Differences in Secondary Education and their Short- and Longer-Term Effects on Inequalities of Educational Opportunities” (22 nd -23 rd May 2014)
Phase 3 of the ERC project ‘Education as a Lifelong Process – Comparing Educational Trajectories in Modern Societies’ (eduLIFE) examines how the organization of secondary education in modern school systems affects educational and social inequalities in the early life.
An exploratory workshop was organized on 22-23 May 2014 at the European University Institute in Florence (Italy) to coordinate the research between collaborators. 35 researchers presented their countries’ educational systems, datasets and described their first results. A common research strategy was discussed which will be adopted for all countries.
This phase of the project compares 15 in-depth country-specific case studies and two cross-national studies, providing an overview across different countries. A panel of internationally renowned experts who are familiar with their respective countries or are experts in comparative research have contributed papers. The project includes European countries such as Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, England, Switzerland, Denmark, Estonia, and Hungary and also Australia, Israel, Russia, and the United States. Overall, 48 scholars participate in this research phase.
Together, they examined how students are allocated to lower and upper secondary schools, how they navigate through institutions of secondary education, and where they end up in terms of final educational attainment through a longitudinal and internationally comparative lens. When conceptualizing social inequalities and educational differentiation, eduLIFE focuses primarily on how social origin impacts on the way students move through the educational system. Compared to other studies of the inequality of educational opportunity, differentiation in secondary education is being approached from a broader perspective by including both formal and ‘hidden’ differentiation.
This was the 5th workshop of the eduLIFE project, which is funded by European Research Council (ERC) and headed by Prof. Hans-Peter Blossfeld. The workshop was part of a new series of events at the Comparative Life Course and Inequality Research Centre (CLIC) of the European University Institute.
