Peter Stevens

Researching Race/Ethnicity and Educational Inequality in English Secondary Schools: A Critical Review of the Research Literature Between 1980 and 2005:

This article describes and critically analyzes how sociologists in England have studied racial/ethnic inequalities in secondary education between 1980 and 2005. This study is different from earlier literature reviews conducted in this particular area in that it adopts a more systematic approach and includes the most recent studies in this field. Five major research traditions are identified: those of political arithmetic, racism and racial discrimination in school, school effectiveness and school inclusion, culture and educational outcomes, and educational markets and educational outcomes. These research traditions are critically examined in terms of their research questions, methods, outcomes, and related debates. The development of particular research traditions is explained by pointing to more general developments in terms of social policy and intellectual climate in England. A final section offers a discussion of how sociologists of education could improve future research on race/ethnicity and educational inequality in England.

Self-esteem of academic and vocational students: Does within-school tracking sharpen the difference?:

Research into the effects of ability grouping has usually been conducted within schools. In the British and North American context, where the bulk of this kind of research has been carried out, ability grouping commonly occurs within schools. In Flanders – the Dutch-speaking, northern part of Belgium – as in other European countries, there are not only tracks within schools, but schools themselves can be distinguished by the curriculum they offer. This study questions whether students’ global self-esteem is affected differently by processes of within-school tracking (multilateral schools) compared to processes of between-school tracking (categorial schools). Analyses are based on a subsample of the Flemish Educational Assessment, gathered in 2004–2005, encompassing 10 multilateral and 56 categorial schools with 3,758 academic and 2,152 vocational students. Multi-level analyses (HLM6) show that academic students have a significant higher self-esteem than vocational students and this difference is larger in multilateral schools. Academic students in multilateral schools have a slightly higher self-esteem than those in categorial schools. Conceivably, academic students compare themselves with the vocational track students, leading to a higher awareness of status gratification, resulting in a higher self-esteem.

The culture of futility and its impact on study culture in technical/vocational schools in Belgium

Starting from the present knowledge society with its social overvaluing of cognition and white‐collar jobs at the expense of manual labour, this article examines whether school type—academic versus technical/vocational schools—relates to students’ sense of futility. It assesses the schools’ culture of futility and investigates the explanatory value of sense of futility and culture of futility in the relation of school type with study involvement and study culture. Multilevel analyses of data from 6,373 students in 44 Flemish schools (2004–2005) show that students in technical/vocational schools share higher feelings of futility, suggesting the existence of cultures of futility. The students’ study involvement relates to their sense of futility. The schools’ futility culture affects the students’ study involvement independent of their sense of futility. Finally, futility culture explains the association between school type and study involvement, and is responsible for less study‐oriented cultures in technical/vocational schools.

Study Involvement of Academic and Vocational Students: Does Between-School Tracking Sharpen the Difference?:

Although a rich tradition of mainly U.S. and U.K. research focuses on the nature and effects of tracking students within schools, little research has investigated the importance of tracking students in the same or in separate schools. The authors used data from a unique, representative survey in Flanders (Belgium) to examine how students’ study involvement varied between multilateral schools (in which all different tracks are offered) and categorial schools (in which only particular tracks are offered) and whether the relation between track and study involvement varied between these school types. Multilevel analyses of data gathered in 2004 and 2005 from academic and vocational third and fifth grade students in a sample of Flemish secondary schools showed that vocational students had slightly lower study involvement in multilateral schools. Although academic students were more study involved than vocational students, this difference was larger in multilateral schools than in categorial schools. The data suggest that in multilateral schools, vocational students compared themselves with academic-track students, consistent with the hypothesis of increased status deprivation, resulting in even stronger antischool attitudes. The implications of these findings for further research and social policy are discussed.

Researching race/ethnicity and educational inequality in the Netherlands: A critical review of the research literature between 1980 and 2008

This article describes and critically analyzes how educational sociologists in the Netherlands have studied the relationship between race/ethnicity and educational inequality between 1980 and 2008. Five major research traditions are identified: (1) political arithmetic; (2) racism and ethnic discrimination; (3) school characteristics; (4) school choice; and (5) family background. The development of particular research traditions is explained by pointing to more general developments in terms of social policy and intellectual climate in the Netherlands. This study builds on a similar, recently published literature review that focuses on the UK context by critically comparing the development and findings from these different bodies of research literature. The conclusions suggest that the Netherlands, like England, developed strong research traditions in this area of research since the 1980s and that both countries can learn from each other and advance future research in this area by developing more comprehen...

Streaming in Flemish secondary schools: exploring teachers' perceptions of and adaptations to students in different streams

A rich body of research on streaming or tracking conducted mainly in the USA and UK suggests that teachers have lower expectations of students in lower education streams and adapt their curriculum and pedagogy in line with such expectations. Recent large‐scale quantitative research conducted in Flanders (Belgium) shows that teachers teaching in lower status technical/vocational streams share a lower ‘study culture’ and perceive their students as less teachable than teachers teaching higher status general education students, which in turn influences students’ educational outcomes. This research builds on these studies by using data from qualitative interviews with secondary school teachers in two Flemish secondary schools to explore teachers’ perceptions of students in different streams and their adaptations in terms of curriculum and pedagogy. In addition, the relationship between students’ educational achievement and stream allocation is analysed using survey data collected in these two Flemish schools. The results further support the findings of research in this area but also suggest that stratification occurs within streams. Furthermore, students from different streams are perceived to value different forms of cultural and social capital, suggesting the prevalence of social class cultures in different streams. The conclusions discuss implications for further research on streaming or tracking in (Flemish) secondary schools.

School ethnic composition and aspirations of immigrant students in Belgium

This article examines the association between school ethnic composition and immigrant students’ intentions to finish high school and to move on to higher education. We used data from 1324 immigrant and 10,546 native students gathered in the school year 2004–2005 in a sample of 85 Flemish (Belgian) secondary schools. Logistic multilevel analyses (HLM6) show that students attending schools with a majority of native students (enrolling less than 20% immigrant students) were twice as likely to plan to finish high school and to plan for higher education than those attending high concentration schools (more than 50% immigrant students). These associations were due to students’ socio‐economic status (SES) and there was no difference in aspirations between high and low concentration schools after controlling for students’ SES and the SES context of the school. All else being equal, immigrant students in high concentration schools tended to aspire to finish high school and move on to higher education slightly more...

Transnational Marriages on the Decline: Explaining Changing Trends in Partner Choice among Turkish Belgians

This article reports a decline in transnational marriages among Turkish Belgians between 2001 and 2008 and explains the changing trends through a qualitative study of Turkish Belgians’ current partner preferences and union formation practices. Young people prefer a local marriage because it enables upward social mobility, and the possibility of premarital relationships and lower parental involvement seem to further add to the declining popularity of transnational marriages. Despite these changes, however, a considerable percentage of people continues to marry a partner from the country of origin. By identifying four ‘types’ of transnational marriages we highlight the changes and diversification with regards to transnational marriages.

Adapting to the System or the Student? Exploring Teacher Adaptations to Disadvantaged Students in an English and a Belgian Secondary School:

This article builds on research on teacher adaptations to students by exploring how Belgian and English national contexts influence teachers’ definitions of educational success, their explanations of educational failure, and their allocation of scarce educational resources to disadvantaged students. Ethnographic data from one Flemish (Belgian) and one English secondary multicultural school suggest that teachers in both schools adapt their expectations to students in line with the perceived ability and interests of students. However, differences between England and Flanders in how students and schools are evaluated can help to explain differences between Flemish and English teachers’ allocation of scarce educational resources and responsibility for educational success. The conclusions discuss the implications of these findings for social policy and further research.

Do Attitudes toward School Influence the Underachievement of Turkish and Moroccan Minority Students in Flanders? The Attitude-Achievement Paradox Revisited.

While many ethnic minority students underachieve compared with their ethnic majority peers, they often hold very positive school attitudes. Mickelson (1990) explained this attitude-achievement paradox by the existence of a double set of attitudes. Abstract attitudes reflect the dominant ideas about schooling, while concrete attitudes refer to a person’s perceptions of reality and originate from the educational benefits people expect to obtain on the labor market. According to Mickelson, only students’ concrete attitudes influence achievement. Applying Mickelson’s theory in Flanders, regarding students of Turkish and Moroccan descent, we could not find evidence that abstract and concrete attitudes play a role in the achievement of ethnic minority students. Qualitative research suggests that this could be due to distinct interpretations of success and ways of dealing with perceived constraints. This contrasts with ethnic majority students, who are more likely to end the school year unsuccessfully if they hold pessimistic concrete attitudes.