Project EMiL
What is the project EMiL?
Education is a matter of origin and also a crucial social resource that is distributed unequally. This applies to certificates of education as well as to acquired knowledge and skills. These educational inequalities exist not accidentally, but in a systematic relationship with the structure of the society. It is without controversy that higher education goes along with better economic, social and cultural possibilities to achieve success. On the one hand, education is a necessary prerequisite to participation in social resources. On the other, the access of parents to important social resources is crucial for a successful school career of their children. For this reason, the transfer of academic knowledge is a subject of critical observations.
The first PISA study, among others, invigorated the debate on educational inequality in Germany. The results indicated a high degree of social selectivity in the German educational system. In addition, the bad position of students with a migration background became an important matter in the focus of the public perception. Despite average cognitive resources, children with a low socioeconomic status (SES) and/or immigration background benefit less from the school system than the native population and those who have a higher SES. Besides the SES, the migration background represents one of the most important "risk factors" in the educational system. Hence, the social and ethnic background of a child plays a significant role in explaining the success or failure in the German educational system.
In primary education, the relation between social and ethnic origin and school achievement is still moderate - only after the transmission to secondary school, it increases. Yet it is to clarify whether this fact indicates an achievement of the primary education system. It is assumed that the main reasons for failure or success are to find before school life starts for children. The school achievements of children are determined by institutional, non-school and family factors. The social interaction within the family is regarded as an important mediator variable for the influence of low SES or immigration background on school performances. Family practices, which are reflected in parenting styles, constitute the processes that establish a relationship between home characteristics of children and their school success.
This project analyzes the importance of social and ethnic characteristics of children in primary school age in the German educational system. To answer this question adequately, SES, ethnic background, parental behavior as well as parental orientations will be analyzed separately. At the same time, these factors will be examined in their interactions and their effects on the school success. The previous results of quantitative educational research spotlight the existing inequalities. Qualitative analyses in different social and ethnic groups are necessary to uncover the underlying processes.
Objectives and Research Questions
The aim of the project is to investigate the factors and the mechanisms underlying the described relationships between social and ethnic origin and educational success. For this reason, we will develop a quantitative tool on the current state of research, which allows us to differentiate the social and ethnic backgrounds of the children. From this quantitative data, samples with specific familial background will be chosen. Several families will be interviewed via structured interviews. It is the goal to work out mechanisms that contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between social and ethnic origin and school success.
Research Design
The project operates with a wide repertoire of methods. During the first stage of 2011, the theoretical foundations will be developed. In addition, a survey instrument for family factors and processes that ensures social and ethnic positioning of the children will be developed.
The second stage in 2012will follow the data acquisition in close collaboration with the responsible project managers in the IDeA research network. In the third stage, relevant profiles will be selected by contrasting families with relevant inequality profiles from the data. Following, the fourth stage will capture the family’s practices through the development of guided interviews with at least one parent per family.
In the final stage of the project, the interviews will be analyzed and interpreted. It is the aim to work out contrasting cases and specific familial characteristics, revealing the connection between social and/or ethnic origin and educational success.
Scientific coordinator
Prof. Dr. Tanja Betz
Prof. Dr. Marcus Hasselhorn
Dr. Sven Lindberg
Dr. Jan Lonnemann
Janosch Linkersdörfer, Dipl. Psych.
Member of staff
Robert Körner, M.A.
