Simone Schüller

The Effects of 9/11 on Attitudes Toward Immigration and the Moderating Role of Education

The major event of the 9/11 terror attacks is likely to have induced an increase in anti-immigrant and anti-foreigner sentiments, not only among US residents but also beyond US borders. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and exploiting exogenous variation in interview timing throughout 2001, I find that the terror attacks in the US caused an immediate shift of around 40 percent of one within standard deviation to more negative attitudes toward immigration and resulting in a considerable decrease in concerns over xenophobic hostility among the German population. Furthermore, in exploiting within-individual variation this quasi-experiment provides evidence on the role of education in moderating the negative terrorism shock.

Kick It Like Özil? Decomposing the Native-Migrant Education Gap.

We investigate second generation migrants and native children at several stages in the German education system to analyze the determinants of the persistent native-migrant gap. One part of the gap can be attributed to differences in socioeconomic background and another part remains unexplained. Faced with this decomposition problem, we apply linear and matching decomposition methods. Accounting for differences in socioeconomic background, we find that migrant pupils are just as likely to receive recommendations for or to enroll at any secondary school type as native children. Comparable natives, in terms of family background, thus face similar difficulties as migrant children. Our results point at more general inequalities in secondary schooling in Germany which are not migrant-specific.

Evidence and Persistence of Education Inequality in an Early-Tracking System: The German Case

This article reviews empirical evidence on the early tracking system in Germany and the educational inequalities associated with it. Overall, the literature confirms the existence of considerable social, ethnic, gender- and age-related inequalities in secondary school track placement. Studies on tracking timing and track allocation mechanisms reveal that postponement of the selection decision and binding teacher recommendations may reduce certain (mainly social) inequalities. Furthermore, recent evidence concerning long-term consequences of tracking on labor market outcomes suggests that sizeable built-in flexibilities in the German system succeed in compensating for initial (age-related) education inequalities. The paper concludes with an outline and discussion of the most promising pathways for future research in order to help design inequality-reducing policy recommendations.