Philipp Schnell
Sociologist
Publications
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Sticking to the core or going beyond? The Austrian Freedom Party ́s educational approach in a longitudinal perspective
Although populist radical right parties (PRRPs) are actively studied in recent years, few research has addressed their approach to education policy. Previously not considered one of their signature issues, this paper argues that education has become important for PRRPs too. In a case study of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), one of the most longstanding and successful PRRPs in Western Europe, we explore key pillars of the FPÖ’s educational positions and their development over time. Drawing on qualitative content analysis of party programs, election manifestos and plenary debates from 1990 to 2020, our analysis shows that the policy area of education has indeed become an ideological battleground for the FPÖ. Its educational positions are largely grounded in the ideological core of PRRPs and comprise a fundamental critique of mainstream parties’ dominance in educational institutions (anti-mainstream); a nativist division on all levels of education (nativism); the advocacy of merit-based educational institutions coupled with authoritarian instruments of schooling (merit); and a plea for more liberalisation and competition in schools (liberalisation). Over time, positions become more nuanced, albeit only within the already established traits. These findings corroborate theoretical arguments for the influence of growing party age and government experience on PRRPs’ positions.
Children of immigrants and the second generation
This chapter illustrates the concepts of “children of immigrants” and “second generation” as they have been conceived and are employed in the sociology of migration. We begin by providing a short overview of the main theoretical perspectives on the integration processes of children of immigrants, including hypothesis on ‘straight-line’ assimilation, ‘segmented’ assimilation and the European centered ‘comparative integration context theory’. Next, we offer a comprehensive description of the different operationalizations and empirical definitions of the second generation used in the literature. Finally, we leverage existing evidence coming from selected empirical studies to show how these definitions affect the examined integration outcomes of children of immigrants. The chapter concludes with a summary and an outlook on future research.
Soziale Bildungsungleichheiten in Österreichs Schulen. Kontinuitäten und Wandel zwischen 2012 und 2022
Dieser Beitrag analysiert die Entstehung und Entwicklung von Bildungsungleichheiten in Österreichs Schulen zwischen 2012 und 2022. Dabei stehen Veränderungen der Bildungspartizipation in den letzten drei Jahren besonders im Fokus der empirischen Betrachtung, indem die Folgen der coronabedingten Schulschließungen und der gegenwärtigen Teuerungskrise für Ungleichheitsmuster untersucht werden. Der zweite Teil dieses Beitrags beschreibt darauf bezogene bildungspolitische Reformmaßnahmen im letzten Jahrzehnt sowie im Kontext der jüngsten Krisenbewältigung. Abschließend werden diese Entwicklungsstränge zusammengeführt und die sich daraus ergebenden Herausforderungen für die gegenwärtige Bildungspolitik diskutiert.
Drei wesentliche Erkenntnisse dieses Beitrags sind:
- Bereits vor den jüngsten Krisenentwicklungen lassen sich für Österreich deutliche und persistente Bildungsungleichheiten nach sozialer Herkunft zeigen.
- Ungünstigere Voraussetzungen für Schüler:innen haben sich im Krisenkontext verstärkt und damit Bildungsungleichheiten im österreichischen Schulsystem weiter erhöht.
- Trotz bildungspolitischer Bekundung von Chancengleichheit werden Maßnahmen zur nachhaltigen Überwindung sozialer Ungleichheit im Schulsystem in der bildungspolitischen Praxis nicht bzw. nicht mit entscheidendem Nachdruck verfolgt.
Zusammenfassung und Präsentation des Bands im Renner Institut, 20.6.2023: Drinnen oder draußen? Wie der Sozialstaat Türen öffnet | Karl-Renner-Institut
Die Gesundheitskrise der Jungen: Psychische Belastungen und subjektives Wohlbefinden von SchülerInnen während der COVID-19-Pandemie
Dieser Beitrag analysiert die Entwicklungen der psychischen Gesundheit von SchülerInnen in Österreich während der COVID-19-Pandemie. Datenbasis ist die Panelerhebung „Schulkostenstudie 2020/21“, mit der Veränderungen im subjektiven Wohlbefinden von SchülerInnen zwischen den Pandemie-bedingten Schulschließungen abgebildet werden können. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich die psychische Gesundheit von SchülerInnen – unabhängig vom Alter und dem sozio-ökonomischem Hintergrund der Eltern – während der COVID-19-Pandemie deutlich verschlechtert und zu einem von Anstieg von psychosomatischen Belastungen geführt hat.
Studying New Social Mobility: Data, Methods and Comparisons
The chapter describes the overall aims of the Pathways to Success and ELITES projects and the methods used by the various national research teams to investigate these common aims. It explains the relationship of the Pathways and ELITES projects to the earlier comparison of the second generation conducted by the TIES project, as well as the decision to focus on children of migrants who had achieved steep social mobility compared to their parents. To give readers a clear conception of the type of problems which the Pathways and ELITES projects started off from, the first part of the chapter gives some data from the TIES study: comparative data on the educational and occupational trajectories of children of migrants from Turkey in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Sweden. These show that, even though the socio-economic backgrounds and migration histories of the first generation in the four nations were similar, the educational and the occupational stories of their children were widely different, both in the percentages of the second generation which attained ‘success’, and in the specific ‘pathways’ used (e.g. through the education system or in the labour market). The chapter then continues with an explanation of the methods used in the Pathways and ELITES studies to investigate the social mechanisms underlying these kinds of differences, found in diverse national – but also occupational – ‘integration contexts’. The sampling criteria used for the qualitative interviewees are described, and basic data is provided on who was interviewed by the various research teams. Without overlapping with methodological information given in individual chapters, the topics covered by all the teams’ interviews are listed. The final part of the chapter touches on some of the problems involved in making qualitative comparative of ‘integration contexts’ (whether taking nations, cities or occupations as the units of comparison).
Bildungsungleichheiten: Reproduktionsmechanismen und illegitimes kulturelles Kapital in der Schule
Immigration and social inequality. Explaining differences in educational trajectories for ethnic minority youths in Austria
This chapter examines the academic achievements and educational trajectories of the children of immigrants in Austria. During the Cold War era, Austria’s immigration patterns were shaped by refugee movements and guest worker migration. Since the millennium, EU-internal migration has become the largest source of immigration. As a result, the immigrant population numbers in Austria have risen to 17%, with an increasing number of immigrant children entering Austrian schools today. The educational opportunities available to the children of immigrants as well as their school performance are often regarded as the ‘litmus test’ not just for integration, but for the success or failure of policies in this field. In particular, the experiences of second-generation pupils may provide a clearer indication of the long-term prospects for integration than those of first-generation immigrants.
To shed light on this connection, this chapter provides an empirical study using data from the Austrian standardized national survey in education (Bildungsstandardüberprüfung BIST 2012/2013). This complete survey contains information on standardized test scores in Mathematics and English (grade 8), as well as relevant background details on educational trajectories from pre-school to secondary education. Moreover, the survey allows for a comprehensive analysis of academic achievements and educational trajectories of the children of immigrants from 18 different ethnic origin groups.
Our findings reveal large educational achievement gaps between children of immigrants and native-born children. However, the size of these educational achievement gaps varies substantially along ethnic lines. The drawbacks faced by most descendants of immigrants in Austria are due to fewer educational, economic and material resources being available to them. This supports findings from many European countries that are traditionally commonly sources of immigrants to Austria, where a lack of educational resources in the family explains large parts of the educational disadvantages of immigrant pupils. It also confirms the variety in outcomes across ethnic groups based on their heterogeneous socioeconomic status. In addition, our findings provide empirical evidence for the significant role of the school system in influencing pupils’ educational opportunities: tracking and early selection, as well as an allocation system favoring school segregation together contributing to the consolidation of (ethnic) educational disadvantages in Austria.
Based on the findings of our research, we draw practical inferences about the amelioration of existing inequalities affecting the impact of the current school system. They provide the basis for the chapter’s concluding recommendations.
Schulen gerecht finanzieren – den Chancen-Index umsetzen
Schulischen Herausforderungen entgegenwirken. Gerechte Schulfinanzierung über das Chancen-Index-Modell
Lernumgebungen sind in Österreich sehr unterschiedlich verteilt. Gerade Schulstandorte mit großen Herausforderungen bräuchten mehr finanzielle Mittel, um jedes Kind – unabhängig vom sozialen Hintergrund – optimal zu fördern. Damit könnten Schulen mit hohem Förderbedarf strukturelle Ungleichheiten durch mehr Förderangebote, pädagogisches Unterstützungspersonal etc. ausgleichen. Die Zuteilung der Mittel soll konkret über einen „Chancen-Index“ erfolgen. Für Schulen mit großen Herausforderungen sind mehr finanzielle Mittel vorzusehen.
Austria: Equity Research Between Family Background, Educational System and Language Policies
The goal of this chapter is to describe how researchers in Austria have studied ethnicity and educational inequality between 1980 and 2016 as well as critically assess the reasons for specific research activities and the lack thereof. Even today, Austria still lacks a systematic overview of research in the field of ethnicity/race and educational inequality. We highlight five distinct research traditions on ethnicity/race and educational inequality in Austria: the political arithmetic tradition, the Family background tradition, the structures of educational systems tradition, the intercultural education and discrimination tradition, and the multilinguality tradition. We concentrate on their major focuses, methods, findings and implications for debates within this field of inquiry. We conclude by summarizing and critically assessing the research traditions explored and provide suggestions for future research on the relationship between race/ethnicity and educational inequality in Austria.
Mehrsprachige Schüler/innen am Ende der 8. Schulstufe: Kompetenzen und familiäres Sprachumfeld
Das Kapitel zeigt, dass der Anteil der mehrsprachigen Jugendlichen an Österreichs Schulen im Zeitraum 2012 bis 2016 zugenommen hat und die demografische Entwicklung auch Schulen zu Orten der sprachlichen Vielfalt macht. Betrachtet man die fachlichen Kompetenzen der mehrsprachigen Schüler/innen in Mathematik, Englisch und Deutsch, so schneiden mehrsprachige Schüler/innen jedoch schwächer ab als einsprachige Jugendliche, wobei es deutliche Unterschiede je nach Herkunft gibt und vor allem der sozioökonomische Hintergrund ausschlaggebend für schulische Lernerfolge ist. Außerdem zeigt der Beitrag, dass die Deutschkompetenzen der Eltern mit den Kompetenzen ihrer Kinder in Zusammenhang stehen, aber erneut der sozioökonomische Hintergrund der wichtigste Erklärungsfaktor für die Schülerleistungen ist.
Bildungspolitik unter Schwarz-Blau
Bildungspolitische Entwicklungen folgen nicht ausschließlich nationalen Politiken zeitlich umgrenzter Regierungsperioden. Sowohl international als auch lokal entstehen und verfestigen sich wichtige Elemente von Bildungsreformen. Trotzdem lassen sich einige Besonderheiten der aktuellen österreichischen Bildungslandschaft auf die parteipolitischen Initiativen von Schwarz-Blau zurückführen, wenn auch teilweise nur als Forcierung bereits etablierter Reformdynamiken. Vor diesem Hintergrund setzt sich der vorliegende Beitrag mit den bildungspolitischen Reformen von Schwarz-Blau II seit Herbst 2017 auseinander. Ausgehend von einer Diskussion empirisch beobachtbarer Bildungsungleichheiten im österreichischen Bildungssystem werden Schwarz-Blaue Reformen darauf hin analysiert, ob und in welchem Ausmaß sie zum Abbau oder zur Beständigkeit von Bildungsungleichheiten in Österreich beitragen werden. Anschließend werden Kontinuitäten und Divergenzen rechts-konservativer Bildungspolitiken zwischen Schwarz-Blau I und II analysiert.
Rechts-konservative Bildungspolitik unter Schwarz-Blau. Zwischen Leistung, Segregation und wachsendem Autoritarismus
Bildungszugänge und Bildungsaufstiege. Mechanismen und Rahmenbedingungen
Wie kommen Bildungswege zustande, die – bezogen auf die soziale Herkunft der Teilnehmenden – vom „Regelweg“ abweichen? Wann und wie gelingt es den Bildungsteilnehmenden, die „Hürden ihrer Herkunftsabhängigkeit“ zu überwinden, und was bedeutet dies für ihr weiteres Leben? Welche Maßnahmen wirken unterstützend und welche Rolle hat dabei die Erwachsenenbildung inne? Ziel dieser Ausgabe des „Magazin erwachsenenbildung.at“ (Meb) ist es, den Scheinwerfer auf jene zu richten, die entgegen jeder „statistischen Wahrscheinlichkeit“ Aufstiege durch Bildung anstreben bzw. erfahren haben. Die Betrachtung von deren Bildungsaufstiegen ist eng mit der Frage nach ihren Bildungszugängen verknüpft. Denn – unumstritten – verbessern erleichterte Bildungszugänge die Bildungschancen und sind deshalb ein zentraler Faktor für mehr Aufwärtsmobilität und gesellschaftliche Teilhabe. Aber ist das Streben nach einem Bildungsaufstieg nicht schon längst ein „Muss“, nach einem Aufstieg, der gleichzeitig zunehmend zur Illusion wird? Gibt es einen „Bildungszugang für alle“ überhaupt angesichts der selektiven Funktion von Bildungsinstitutionen? Welches Potenzial bergen neue Lern- und Lehrformen wie OER für Bildungszugänge? Und nicht zuletzt: Fungieren Hochschulen als Institutionen der Erwachsenenbildung und welchen Beitrag leisten sie zur Aufwärtsmobilität? Antworten auf diese Fragen geben die Beiträge der vorliegenden Ausgabe und noch mehr: Sie richten den Blick auf die Nachteile der Aufwärtsmobilität, machen den Bildungsaufstieg im Generationenverband als Fremdheitserfahrung sichtbar, verknüpfen Weiterbildungsteilnahme, biographische Lebensentwürfe und Gesellschaftsbilder sowie die geographische Erreichbarkeit der Angebote mit der Weiterbildungsbeteiligung und begeben sich auf eine historische Spurensuche der Teilnahmeforschung an den Volkshochschulen.
Die (Un-)Beweglichkeit des Bildungssystems. Diversität und Unterrichtserfolg an Österreichs Schulen
Schulen gerecht finanzieren: das AK Chancen-Index Modell
Unequal pathways. School-to-work trajectories for children of Turkish and Western-Balkan origin in Switzerland and Austria
This paper investigates educational and occupational pathways of children of Turkish and Western-Balkan origin and of the majority population in Austria and Switzerland. Using a representative sample of 2186 respondents living in two Swiss and two Austrian urban areas, our results show that descendants of immigrants have less chances to follow a constant successful path from education to occupation in both countries, mainly because successful trajectories are determined by the parent’s socioeconomic status. However, young adults of Turkish and Western Balkan origin in Switzerland are more often upward mobile than the majority group. Altogether, our results indicate slightly greater chances for upward mobility among young adults in Switzerland in comparison to Austria.
Religion, Demokratie und Toleranz: Mythen und empirische Fakten. Ein Resümee
Muslimische Milieus im Wandel? Religion, Werte und Lebenslagen im Generationenvergleich
In diesem Band werden soziale und religiös-kulturelle Milieus von MuslimInnen im Generationenwandel dargestellt und die vielfältigen innerfamiliären Transmissionsprozesse in muslimischen Familien (auf Basis von 363 Eltern-Kind-Dyaden) untersucht. Im Mittelpunkt der vergleichenden Analysen zwischen den Generationen stehen Zusammenhänge zwischen religiösen Einstellungs- und Verhaltensmustern mit relevanten Bereichen, wie Familie, Demokratie und Rechtsstaat, religionsmotivierte Gewaltbereitschaft, sozioökonomischer Aufstieg und Re-Migrationsabsichten. Darüber hinaus werden die Ressentiments und Wahrnehmungen der Mehrheitsbevölkerung mit den Sichtweisen und Problemwahrnehmungen von MuslimInnen kontrastiert.
Getting ahead. Educational and occupational trajectories of the 'new' second-generation in Switzerland
This paper examines the educational and occupational trajectories among second-generation immigrants of Turkish and Western-Balkan origin in Switzerland. Using a representative sample of 1107 respondents in two Swiss urban areas, the findings reveal that descendants of immigrants have reduced chances to follow a constant successful path from education to occupation, which is mainly determined by parental socioeconomic status. However, young adults of Turkish and Western Balkan origin are significantly more often upward mobile than the majority group, a pattern that is robust against a range of controls. We find parental monitoring and family cohesion to be positively related with upward mobility. Moreover, second-generation immigrants are more likely to be upwardly mobile than starting high in the education system but subsequently moving downwards—a profile that is more frequent among Swiss origin youth. Our multivariate results indicate that a lack of intense parent–child communication and perceived discrimination in school are affecting this downward process.
Formen der Religiosität: Ein Generationenvergleich religiöser Praktiken und Einstellungen
Einleitung
The Academic Achievements of Immigrant Youths in New Destination Countries: Evidence from Southern Europe
This article examines academic achievements of immigrant youths in four new immigration countries: Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The analysis based on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of 2009 and 2012 reveals large educational achievement gaps between immigrant children and natives in all four south European countries. The achievement gaps shrink substantially after accounting for differences in family backgrounds. The drawbacks faced by immigrant children in these four new immigration countries are due to fewer economic and material resources being available to them. On the other hand, the educational background of parents does not account for immigrant−native differences in academic performance. This stands in contrast to many traditional European immigration countries in which a lack of educational resources explains larger parts of the educational disadvantages of immigrant children. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the very precarious socio-economic integration of adult immigrants in new destination countries who, despite their relatively strong educational credentials, are placed into the lowest occupational positions. Such weak occupational attainments among the parental generation translate into a lack of material resources and investments available to families to foster their children’s education.
Place Attachment and Social Ties - Migrants and Natives in Three Urban Settings in Vienna
With ongoing immigration from ‘all over the world’, European cities are realising that the local level is gaining importance as a setting for interethnic coexistence. In this article, we investigate the attachment of migrants and natives to their local context in three neighbourhoods (one better‐off, two more deprived) in Vienna that differ in contextual, structural, and socio‐economic characteristics. We ask how the place attachment of natives and migrants is related to weak and strong social ties. In all three neighbourhoods, we found a majority of residents reported high or medium levels of attachment proving that urban neighbourhoods are still important contexts for local residents. A closer look revealed differences across groups and research areas: The strongest place attachment is displayed by natives in the middle‐class area of Laudongasse, with migrants being significantly less attached, but still more than migrants (and natives) in the two deprived settings. In social housing (Am Schöpfwerk), migrants are more attached than natives, whereas in Ludo‐Hartmann‐Platz, the difference is not significant. The first result is that obviously deprivation reduces individual place attachment. In contrast to previous studies we found that socio‐demographic factors are not relevant, it is social contacts that are important in explaining local attachment. For natives and migrants alike, close ties in the neighbourhood raise local attachment. Small talks are relevant for migrants but not for natives. This is in line with previous studies emphasising the special relevance of weak ties for migrants in supporting the integration process in a new environment.
Network Embeddedness of Migrants: Exploring Variations Across three Neighbourhoods in Vienna
This chapter analyses the local network embeddedness of migrants and their descendants in three different Viennese neighbourhoods and explores the impact it has on community cohesion. We argue that not only are individual characteristics key for the formation of migrants’ networks, but also neighbourhood conditions, as they provide opportunity structures for establishing both bridging and bonding ties and therefore significantly shape access to resources. The three neighbourhood case studies were selected for the diversity they represent in terms of locality, structural features, and their socio-economic and ethnic composition. Using data gathered as part of the 2010 GEITONIES survey we offer an exploration of if, why and how migrants access, develop and maintain different types of local networks in different social and spatial contexts.
Family involvement and educational success of the children of immigrants in Europe. Comparative perspectives
Recent literature has emphasised the importance of family involvement within immigrant families in determining their children’s educational pathways. On the one hand, the focus on family involvement and the transmission of familial resources becomes more important when disentangling ethnic educational inequalities for second-generation youth. On the other hand, particular practices of family involvement seem to counterbalance disadvantaged origins and become the driving force for educational success. However, few, if any, studies systematically explore the importance of family involvement for educational success by children of immigrants from an international comparative perspective. This introduction paper attempts to fill this gap. In addition to previewing the contents of the articles found in this issue, we include a comparative review of the main communalities found in the contributions of this special issue. The paper concludes with suggestions for future comparative research on family involvement and educational success by children of immigrants in Europe.
Behind the scenes. Family involvement and educational achievement of second-generation Turks in Austria, France and Sweden
This article explores school-related involvement strategies within Turkish families in Austria, France and Sweden and their linkages with educational achievements of their children. Using data from the TIES survey, results show that the educational attainment of second-generation Turks in Austria is much more dependent on various activities of support provided by their parents when compared to their counterparts in France and Sweden after holding family background characteristics constant. Besides, the educational success of second-generation Turks in Austria is reliant on the extra support they receive from older siblings beyond parental involvement and education background. No such significant effects were observed in either France or Sweden. The paper further reveals that second-generation Turks are more reliant on educational support from their parents than are the children of majority families within Austria. The paper suggests that these different findings across countries have to be read in the light of interaction mechanisms with institutional settings of the given education systems.
Zwischen den Generationen. Transmissionsprozesse in Familien mit Migrationshintergrund
Dieser Band rückt innerfamiliäre Transmissionsprozesse in Familien mit Migrationshintergrund in den Mittelpunkt. Die Beiträge untersuchen innerfamiliäre Weitergabe in den Bereichen Sprache, Bildung und Mobilität, Heirat und Kontakte bis hin zu Werte, Tradition und Religion. Wandel und Kontinuität zwischen den Generationen nehmen dabei eine Schlüsselstellung ein. Die hier präsentierten Forschungen zeigen in einer ausgewogenen Verbindung von quantitativen und qualitativen Fallstudien, wie intergenerationale Dynamiken die Konturen der Lebenswege und Erfahrungen der Nachfolgegenerationen von MigrantInnen bestimmen und die individuellen Lebensverhältnisse und Chancen außerhalb des Elternhauses beeinflussen. Sie ermöglichen es darüber hinaus, Langzeit-Effekte der Einwanderung in der Aufnahmegesellschaft aufzudecken und theoretische Überlegungen zum Integrationsverlauf zu überdenken.
»Book Review [German]«
Wie die Eltern, so die Kinder?’ Zur Bedeutung familiärer Transmission im gesellschaftlichen Integrationsprozess
Turkish migrants and their descendants in Austria: Patterns of exclusion and individual and political responses
Turkish immigrants and their descendants have become the main target of antiimmigrant political mobilization in Austria since the 1990s. They have come to epitomize the image of the Oriental enemy and the Muslim other. Based on these discursive constructions, Muslims in general, and Turks in particular, have often been described as unwilling to integrate into Austrian society. The articles in this special issue show not only that these discourses and exclusionary attitudes may result in discriminatory practices towards Turkish immigrants and their descendants in Austria, but also that the alleged unwillingness to integrate may be explained by the lack of effort made by the Austrian government and Austrian institutions to integrate this group.