The impact of tracking in a stratified education system on idealistic educational aspirations in migrant and native families

In this study, we analyse the extent to which educational tracking impacts idealistic educational aspirations in Switzerland and how different second generation groups by countries of origin differ from Swiss natives in this respect. In fact, research has repeatedly confirmed that students with a migration background aspire more for general education, specifically for university degrees. However, little is known within strong tracking educational systems, such as Switzerland. Using AES2016-data, we find that when parental educational aspirations are controlled for and when we account for constraints due to tracking, children of immigrants have higher idealistic educational aspirations than their native counterparts. This points towards some immigrant optimism. Track attendance has a different impact on the aspirations of different groups but does not inhibit high aspirations even when these seem unattainable.