The consequences of educational differentiation have been at the centre of research in sociology of education during the past decades. Processes of educational allocation have, however, received much less attention. Despite the fact that research has shown that teacher recommendations in France and Germany are partly determined by pupils social background, studies that inquire into the causes of this social bias seem to be virtually inexistent. This study aims to examine whether teacher recommendations at the transition from primary to secondary education in Flanders (northern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) are also socially biased, and if so what causes these differentials in advice, using a mixed-methods design. We found the advice given by primary school teachers to be partly determined by pupils social background. Analysis of the qualitative data suggests that teachers tend to evaluate pupils from low socio-economic status backgrounds less positively, due to their emphasis on specific pupil characteristics

This paper inquires into the mechanisms conducive to social class differentials in educational choice in Flanders (the Northern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) using both quantitative data gathered from parents (N = 1339) and qualitative data gathered during two focus groups with pupils (N = 16). Unlike most of the previous studies, this study takes into consideration all three theoretical perspectives that have driven research on class differentials in educational choice so far, namely cultural reproduction theory, rational action theory and the notion of social capital. Logistic regression analysis shows that self-selection does also occur in Flanders and that the effect of parental SES cannot be explained by a specific measure of cultural capital centred on knowledge of the educational system, nor by measures of social capital. What emerges most clearly from this study is that pupils' perception of their choice process is powerfully framed by deep-rooted conceptions about the educational alternatives available to them. Furthermore, children's choices seem to be delimited by parents' opinions of which educational alternatives were acceptable, and which ones not. Our study calls for future research to take the wider context of decision-making processes more explicitly into account.

Teacher recommendations are an important factor in the process of track placement, but research has shown that they are biased by pupils’ social background. Pupils from higher socio‐economic backgrounds are more likely to get the advice to enrol in an academic track than pupils from lower socio‐economic backgrounds, irrespective of prior achievement. Previous studies looked primarily at individual pupil or parent characteristics and their influence on teacher recommendations. However, in this article, the authors argue that the class context forms the frame of reference within which a teacher forms his/her recommendation for pupils. Therefore, this article investigates class composition effects on teacher recommendations at the transition between primary and secondary education in Flanders. More specifically, we look at the socio‐economic, ethnic and ability composition of a class. Multilevel logistic models were tested on data collected in 36 primary schools in the cities of Ghent and Antwerp in May 2015. The results show that only the ability composition of the classroom exerts a frame‐of‐reference effect on teacher recommendations for academically versus practically oriented tracks. A pupil with a low individual ability in a low‐ability class was more likely to get the advice to enrol in an academically oriented track than an equally able pupil in a high‐ability class. This study demonstrated the limited importance of class composition in teacher recommendations, but calls for more research on teacher bias in the process of track assignment.

The influence of the ethnic composition of schools on interethnic relations and attitudes has been studied extensively and has received ample interest from policy makers. However, less attention has been paid to the structures and processes inside schools that organize interethnic relations and attitudes. In Flanders (Belgium), secondary education is organized by grouping students in different tracks, which are hierarchically ordered and prepare students for different futures. Tracking in Flanders is intended to group students according to their abilities but together with this, students are grouped according to their ethnic and socioeconomic background. In the present study, the interethnic relations and attitudes in each track will be explored, based on ethnographic observations and semi-structured interviews in three multi-ethnic secondary schools in one city. Our findings suggest that different patterns occur across three groups of tracks: the most appreciated fields of study in academic, the intermediary (less appreciated fields of study in academic and technical tracks) and vocational tracks. According to the relative sizes of ethnic groups and track specific characteristics, interethnic relations were characterized respectively by ethnic segregation, positive experiences of interethnic contact or ethnic conflict/tensions. The ethnic composition of classrooms seemed to matter for students' ethnic in-group identifications and evaluations and perceived out-group threats

Background:The recent influx of Newly Arrived Migrant Students (NAMS) in Western-European societies poses important educational questions about how best to support migrant students within the education system. Purpose: We sought to study how elements that are associated with cultural capital -namely a sense of entitlement and strategic knowledge -have relevance to NAMS' educational trajectories. In studying the process of how cultural capital relates to educational careers, this study argues for a general shift from a resourcefocused approach towards a strategy-focused approach to cultural capital. Sample: We collected data from 33 NAMS from six secondary schools in a city in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium). A maximum difference approach was used: this allowed comparison of NAMS who followed the most academic track (general track) and the least academic track (vocational track) in secondary education in Flanders. Design and methods: We undertook 33 in-depth biographical interviews during which the NAMS reconstructed their educational trajectories. Data were analysed qualitatively. We used structural approach analysis to identify each narrative's core structure. These structured fragments were then thematically coded. Results: Within the categories 'a sense of entitlement' and 'strategic knowledge of the education system', the analysis detected differences in strategies of action between pupils in the general track and in the vocational track. Conclusion:The findings offer insights that could support the development of better strategies to guide and support NAMS in education. As NAMS' integration in the educational system appears to be a stretched and slow process of orientation, studying their trajectory has the potential to deepen our understanding of known mechanisms of the reproduction of inequalities in education.