Life-Course Dynamics of Educational Tracking
Education Systems and Educational Institutions
Final Report Abstract
As a whole, the LIFETRACK project aimed to answer the question, how and why different educational systems, and in particular their various modes of educational tracking and sorting, influence the formation and reproduction of social inequalities over the life course. Whereas previous comparative research had already identified effects of tracking on educational inequality, this project focussed on considering long-term consequences of tracking and on exploring the underlying mechanisms from a life-course perspective. In contrast to much of the previous research, the focus of the LIFETRACK project was not so much on the question of whether some systems produce more inequality than others, but rather on the question of how important educational differentiation is for the formation of social inequality within countries. Also, the LIFETRACK project based its analyses on high-quality longitudinal datasets from single countries, not on cross-sectional comparative data. The project comprised an international research network from seven countries, which represent the prototypes of different tracked and comprehensive educational systems: England, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, and Italy. The findings of the project can be summarized as follows: Each educational system pursues some form of formal, informal, obvious or hidden educational differentiation, which is important for the formation of social inequality and for social reproduction regarding long-term educational and labour market outcomes. - The exact type of educational differentiation varies across countries, but we always find an association between social origin and the placement in the hierarchy of the country’s differentiation scheme. - We also find that each country’s approach to differentiation is predictive of long-term educational and labour market outcomes. - The social mechanisms behind those patterns relate to the commonly known dimensions and their associations with social origin, such as performance, choice, and information. The relative weight of these dimensions and, hence, the specific mechanisms are dependent on the country context and their approach to educational differentiation.
Publications
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(2021). Educational Differentiation in Secondary Education and Labour Market Outcomes. Special edition of Longitudinal and Life Course Studies 12(3)
Schindler, S. (ed.)
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(2021). Educational tracking and longterm outcomes by social origin: Seven countries in comparison. DIAL Working Paper Series 02/2021
Schindler, S., Bar-Haim, E., Barone, C., Birkelund, J. F., Capsada-Munsech, Q., Erola, J., Facchini, M., Feniger, Y., Heiskala, L., Herbaut, E., Ichou, M., Karlson, K.B., Kleinert, C., Reimer, D., Traini, C., Triventi, M., and Vallet, L. A.
