Social and Ethnic Inequalities in Educational Achievement and the Institutional Structure of the German Education System

As part of an invited Annual Review article for the Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, this publication project examines the extent to which the institutional structures of the German education system contribute to the reproduction or reduction of social and ethnic educational inequalities.

The analysis focuses on three clearly defined dimensions: stratification, selectivity, and permeability. It examines key transitions in educational trajectories (e.g., after primary school or in the acquisition of a higher education entrance qualification), shifting the focus away from performance development toward education-related decision-making processes—an aspect that has often been underexplored in previous research (Boudon 1974; Jackson & Jonsson 2013).

By embedding the analysis in a targeted international comparison, the German findings are contrasted with evidence from similarly or less strongly selective systems (e.g., the Netherlands, Scandinavian countries) (Jackson & Jonsson 2013).