The Relationship between Social Capital and Ethnic/Immigrant Tracking: An Analysis of German and U.S. Schools

Emory University, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

SES-9986586 Regina Werum Most studies of ethnic inequality in the U.S. focus on differences in educational achievement (grades, scores, degrees) or long-term mobility patterns (status attainment). Increasingly, researchers are extending their analyses beyond black-white comparisons to include ethnic immigrant minorities. Generally, these studies focus on how micro-level factors, such as socio-economic background and various aspects of cultural and social capital, affect educational and occupational attainment. However, few U.S. studies have analyzed whether track placement in secondary school-a key determinant of educational and occupational attainment-is shaped by ethnically specific dynamics. Moreover, few studies have examined track placement patterns from a cross-national perspective to assess the relative power of institutional vs. competing individual-level explanations of tracking. Employing simple and multinomial logit models to analyze data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and the U.S. based National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), the study will examine whether we can indeed extrapolate from the U.S. findings concerning the determinants of tracking to countries whose educational systems are marked by different institutional characteristics. While Turks compose the immigrant group of interest for analyses of German data, the focus in the U.S. is on Hispanics, especially Mexicans. Germany and the U.S. provide an ideal basis for ethnic comparisons across nations because their educational systems are organized in a strikingly different manner. The study will address two major questions: (1) does track placement follow ethnically specific patterns within each country? To use Germany as an example, do micro-level factors that shape track placement for ethnic Germans differ from those for non-Germans (e.g., Turks)?, and (2) to what degree do similar ethnically specific mechanisms shape track placements in both countries, e.g., does social capital carry the same weight for ethnic immigrant minorities in Germany's externally stratified institutions as it does for comparable minorities in internally stratified institutions typical of the U.S.?