Closing Ranks: Closure, Status Competition, and School Segregation

• In Event: 207 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Segregation

Abstract

Existing theories fail to address important issues regarding contemporary school segregation. I conceptualize school segregation as a mode of status competition, where racial/ethnic groups compete for school-based resources. I test the theory by analyzing primary and secondary school segregation throughout the U.S. from 1993-2010. Findings support the hypotheses that segregation is higher when and where race/ethnicity is salient to group formation, scarce and unequally distributed educational resources heighten competition, and decentralized school systems permit greater differentiation and school choice. The similarity in findings for white-black, white-Hispanic, and black-Hispanic segregation suggests that a core set of processes underlies school segregation.

Author

• Jeremy Fiel, University of Wisconsin-Madison