In November 2020, the collaborative research project “Social (De-)Mixing in Neighborhoods and Schools: Segregation Dynamics in the Context of Parental School Choice” was launched under the leadership of KoMet researchers Prof. Dr. Andreas Farwick (RUB) and Dr. Heike Hanhörster (ILS), as well as Dr. Isabel Ramos Lobato (University of Helsinki). Conducted as a collaboration between the RUB, the ILS, and the University of Helsinki, the project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) until December 2023.
The objective of this project is to analyze the interplay between residential and school-based segregation. Drawing upon a combination of qualitative and quantitative empirical data, the study examines parental primary school choice behavior, using a major city in North Rhine-Westphalia as a case study. The research is premised on the alarming intensification of social polarization in German and European cities—manifesting not only at the neighborhood level but also at a micro-spatial scale, and particularly within educational institutions. Even at the kindergarten and primary school levels, social and ethnic segregation is already evident—at times reaching dramatic proportions—even within mixed neighborhoods, thereby underscoring the critical urgency of this issue. Consequently, there is a need for a more profound understanding of the relationship between the demographic composition of a neighborhood and that of its primary schools, as well as how to achieve a more heterogeneous student body—particularly in mixed neighborhoods where the spatial prerequisites for such integration already exist.
Based on a case study area within a major city in North Rhine-Westphalia, this project examines the interplay between individual characteristics, (local) information channels and networks, and school profiling and information policies as they relate to parental school choice behavior. For the first time in the German context, quantitative and qualitative data are collected within a specific spatial setting and systematically combined. The mixed-methods approach employed in this project thus enables both the mapping of the volume and evolution of parental decisions regarding primary school choice—as well as processes of school segregation—and the in-depth capture and analysis of the underlying motivations and decision-making processes. The project focuses on four central thematic areas: 1. Processes of residential segregation and school mixing; 2. Individual determinants of school choice; 3. The influence of parental networks; and 4. The role of schools.
By explaining the structures and determinants of social and ethnic segregation in German primary schools, this work aims to contribute to research on geographical segregation, neighborhoods, and inequality.
