Examining educational inequalities in a highly stratified education system

This dissertation encompasses four empirical studies, each examining aspects of educational inequality in Switzerland that lie off the beaten track of educational research. In light of the comparatively high stratification in the Swiss education system, processes affecting transitions from one educational stage to another require particular attention. In fulfilling this premise, the four empirical studies are analytically located in the run-up, during and in the follow-up of educational transitions, especially the transitions into and from lower secondary education. The first study examines the role of relative age differences at school enrolment on educational achievement at different stages of compulsory education. While these so-called relative age effects diminish the more students progress in their educational careers, evidence of these effects is still identifiable beyond the transition into lower secondary education. The second study sheds light on regional variation in the use of private tutoring before the transitions into lower and upper secondary education. By exploiting the federalist structure of Switzerland’s education system, analyses reveal that the institutional modalities of selection into general education contribute to the substantial regional variation and the social inequalities in the use of private tutoring. The third study investigates whether geographical constraints in the form of distances to schools affect students’ educational choices during their transition into upper secondary education. Using administratively linked data and introducing a novel distance measure based on commuting times, results indicate that living further away from schools prevents students from pursuing school-based educational programmes at the upper secondary level. The fourth study examines whether and to what extent adolescents revise their educational aspirations upon leaving compulsory school. Results show that a majority of compulsory school leavers adjust their educational aspirations and that the direction thereof is highly responsive to the educational track attended in upper secondary education. Taken together, this dissertation contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of inequality-inducing processes in the course of educational transitions. By considering aspects off the beaten track, this dissertation paves the way with new perspectives for future research and policymakers to pursue.

2024

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