School track and ethnic classroom composition relate to the mainstream identity of adolescents with immigrant background in Germany, but not their ethnic identity

Bibliographic Data

ID8107045
AuthorsAileen Edele (0000-0002-9173-5138, Center for Research on Education and School Development (IFS) TU Dortmund University Dortmund Germany, corresponding author), Malte Jansen (0000-0001-7081-6505, Institute for Educational Quality Improvement (IQB) Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlin, Centre for International Student Assessment Berlin Germany), Michael Schachner (0000-0002-9388-7485, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg Educational Psychology, Halle Germany), Kristin Schotte (0000-0002-4430-8221, Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlin Berlin Germany), Camilla Rjosk (0000-0002-5695-2807, Institute for Educational Quality Improvement (IQB) Humboldt‐Universität zu Berlin Berlin Germany), Susanne Radmann (Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education (DIPF) Berlin Germany)
Year2020
Volume55
Issue5
Pages754-768
Publication date2020-04-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7594 • E-ISSN: 1464-066X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ijop.12677
PMID32335914
OpenAlexW3017434048
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited51

Although developing a cultural identity is a core task for adolescents from immigrant families and the school is a highly important context in adolescence, to date, few studies have examined whether adolescents with particular cultural identities cluster in certain school contexts. Using data from a representative German sample including 7702 secondary school students of immigrant background from 1643 classrooms, we examined how the attended school track and four aspects of ethnic classroom composition relate to adolescents' cultural identity (i.e., their ethnic identity and mainstream identity). Two-level structural equation models indicated that students' ethnic identity was not systematically associated with the attended school track and the ethnic composition of the classroom. However, attending the academic school track, a classroom with a low proportion of classmates with immigrant background and frequently using German with classmates related positively to mainstream identity. Ethnic diversity and proportion of co-ethnics in class did not relate to mainstream identification. Our findings suggest that the ethnic identity of adolescents with an immigrant background in Germany is largely independent from the different socialisation contexts related to school tracks and the ethnic classroom composition. Yet, students' with a strong mainstream identity cluster in certain school contexts

Context (archaeology · Cultural identity · Ethnic group · Geography · German · Identity (music · Immigration · Mainstream · Political science · Sociology · Anthropology · Critical Race Theory in Education · Education and experiences of immigrants and refugees · Psychology · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Gender Studies · Social Psychology

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