Intrafamily Dynamics and School Choice

• In Event: New Directions in School Choice Research: Mechanisms, Processes, and Interactions

Abstract

School choice policies aim to give parents the power to decide where their children attend school, rather than assign children to schools based on where they live. Despite a large body of research examining parent decisions about schooling (Schneider et al., 1998; Bifulco & Ladd, 2007; Bell, 2009a; Harris & Larsen, 2015), few studies examine decision-making that occurs within households. Existing research often conceptualizes a family as a single unit, which downplays the importance of intra-household gender and parent¬–child dynamics, despite their importance in decision-making about schooling (Brown, 2021; David, 1997; England, 2003; Stambach & David, 2005). A focus on the parent can be gendered and racialized. Further, little research on school choice decision-making explicitly considers student perspectives or voice, with few exceptions (Baron & Bell, 2015; Bell et al., 2014; Condiffe et al., 2015; Doyle & Feldman, 2006; Hailey, 2022).

To frame our study, we drew on concepts regarding the gendered organization of labor within the household and the nascent literature on gender and school choice (Brown, 2021; Cooper, 2007). We also draw on feminist economics, which highlights intrafamily relationships and the distribution of power and resources within the family (Nelson, 2005)—typically a “black box” in the neoclassical economic approaches that drive many analyses of school choice decisions.

In this paper, we examine the school choice decision-making process as it plays out within households. Specifically, we ask: Which members of a household hold the bureaucratic responsibility of enrolling in schools? To what extent is this responsibility divided between members of the household, including adults and children? And how do these patterns vary across households? We draw on data from two qualitative studies conducted in Detroit, including interviews with 92 parents or guardians, who had children in elementary, middle, and high schools. We coded all data in Dedoose, and then created matrices to analyze our data for key themes (Miles et al., 2014).

Overall, we found that intrahousehold decision-making about schools involved nuanced degrees of delegated bureaucratic responsibility. Most decision-makers were female-identifying and noted that they held responsibility for navigating the school-choice process regardless of whether they had a partner. Participants who delegated responsibility with both an adult partner and broader social network were overwhelmingly higher income ($75,000+). Parents and guardians involved older students in the decision-making process across income groups, but households earning less than $15,000 per year were more likely to do so. Some participants described their student as fully responsible for their choice decision where others indirectly considered students’ input.

Our findings extend school choice literature by explicitly acknowledging the way intrahousehold decision-making can be gendered, while also affirming other work highlighting the role students play in making decisions about schools. Policymakers, districts, and schools should take specific note of the substantial role students appear to fulfill in choosing their school, especially in the realm of accessibility and navigability, and should consider the gendered burdens of school choice decisions.

Authors

• Huriya Jabbar, University of Southern California
  Presenting Author

• Sarah Winchell Lenhoff, Wayne State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alejandro Madrigal, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author

• Gloria Stout, The University of Texas Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jeremy L. Singer, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author