Interactions between the Ethnic Composition in Schools and Students' Performance, Self-esteem and Future Aspirations.

Research output: Book/Report typesCommissioned report

Abstract (may include machine translation)

EDUMIGROM has released its third Policy Brief, Interactions between the ethnic composition in school and students’ performance, self-esteem and future aspirations, which gives a summary of the results of the comparative analysis of survey data in eight countries participating in the project. It examines on the one hand how structural and policy forces overtly and covertly manipulate educational systems in some of the old and new member states of the EU and lead to various constellations of differentiation between minority and majority ethnic students, and on the other, how these constellations then affect one’s school performance, self-esteem, inter-personal relations and future aspirations. As it has been revealed, there are major differences between the old and new member states in terms of the quality of systemic, built-in inequalities as well as the significance of ethnic background in both inter-group relations and the formation of identity. Most probably, these results could be explained with the dissimilar structures of educational systems; the differing histories of inter-ethnic relations; the differences in the effectiveness of minority rights protection and in the conception of democratic practices and civic life; the nature of ethic separation, and in part, with methodological reasons. The Brief argues that ethnically mixed school environments seem to be the best for students of both ethnic majority and minority. These schools provide opportunities for future school carrier, set the ground for developing inter-ethnic personal relations and contribute to the well development of self-esteem and identity.
Original languageHungarian
Number of pages10
StatePublished - 2010

Publication series

NameEDUMIGROM Policy Brief
No.3

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