Ethnic disadvantage in the transition from lower to upper secondary education in France

Abstract

This paper explores the factors underlying the differences that exist between immigrants and natives in the selective process at work in the transition from lower to upper secondary school in France. The analysis shows that the academic performance of immigrants and natives is unequal. This imbalance, in addition to the inadequate understanding of how the school system functions and the time passed since arriving in the host country, sufficiently accounts for the initial inter-group variation in grades. After controlling for class and immigration related variables, ethnicity was found to have a minor role in the explanation of educational differentials between immigrants and natives. This contradicts the prominent role given to ethnic ascription by the most recent theorising on differentials in status attainment between immigrants and natives.