Ethnic differences in education and diverging prospects for urban youth in an enlarged Europe

Compulsory education for all is more an ideal than a reality

EDUMIGROM is a three-year research project entitled Ethnic differences in education and diverging prospects for urban youth in an enlarged Europe. The project aims to conduct a comparative investigation in ethnically diverse communities with second-generation migrants and Roma in nine countries of the European Union.The comparative survey found that the notion of “compulsory education for all” is more an ideal than a reality. Sizeable groups of children seem not to receive even primary education; other groups formally complete compulsory schooling but do not get hold of basic competences enabling them to continue education or step into the labour market. The survey demonstrates the wide range of mechanisms that lead to sorting and separating children of various ethnic and social background between or within schools, but these, in most cases work to the detriment of minority groups. Ethnic separation in education is just partially a by-product of the given residential conditions: spontaneous processes of “white flight”, local educational policies aiming at raising efficiency through inter- and intra-school streaming, and minority ethnic parents’ attempts at protecting children from discrimination and “othering” also contribute to the process. Segregation then becomes a key component of producing and reproducing inequalities of educational and labour market opportunities.

Ethnic minorities feel comfortable at school despite the contrast with their life outside of school

Qualitative investigation in the school and community environment of urban youth has taken place through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, classroom observations and case studies in all nine target countries. Research has shown that though ethnic minority students feel comfortable at school, they often face contradictions between the values, norms, and practices imposed on them by the school and their immediate home environment. The strategies to overcome the arising tensions range from early escape from the traditional ethnic communities through open opposition to school to the radical withdrawal from all social contacts outside kin-relations. Additionally, the contrasting experiences with “us” and “them” reinforce ethnic separation and limit aspirations for successful inclusion. An increased desire among second generation migrants to return to their ancestors’ home country or the widespread dream among Roma youth to emigrate are clear reflections of alienation from the society into which they were born. Despite all the controversies that second generation migrant and Roma children face in schools, they seem to be strongly committed to education. Community studies were produced in all nine target countries of the project, based on over 500 interviews and 70 focus group discussions.