"Against the Grain": Upper Middle Classes That Choose Public Schools in Santiago de Chile

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: International and Comparative Studies in School Choice

Abstract

School selection of middle class families is part of the segregation that promote school choice. Middle classes choose to set themselves apart socially through the school system and use all the cultural resources they have. In such a generalized scenario, it is interesting to investigate those families of an upper middle class that opt for public education. These are families that seems to move “against the grain” among their peers within their social class.

This presentation shows the results of a qualitative inquiry that investigated 6 families in Santiago de Chile that have chosen municipal public education for their children. They move in the opposite direction of the decision made by the social groups of similar socio-economic characteristics.

Author

• MARIATERESA ROJAS, Alberto Hurtado University