Social Inequalities in School Choice in Germany: The Role of Stated, Revealed, and Realized Preferences

• In Event: 43.078 - MTCC Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: 43.078-7 - Inclusive Education

Abstract

In this study, we analyzed how families’ social background characteristics relate to their school choice decisions in the transition from primary to secondary schools in Berlin, Germany. Drawing on a representative sample of N = 3,473 students and their parents, we found very small effects of social origin on parents stated preferences, but medium effects of social origin on parents’ revealed and realized preferences. While parents’ stated preferences were barely predictive for parents’ revealed preferences, we found the latter to be the best predictor for parents’ realized preferences. We also found that differences in revealed as well as realized preferences were highly associated with students’ achievement levels and the preferred school-track.

Authors

• Nicky Zunker, German Institute for International Educational Research

• Marko Neumann, DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education

• Kai Maaz