Inequality Decisions and Accounts: The Case of Tracking in a Swiss Elementary School

Decision making in terms of grading and evaluating students significantly contributes to unequal opportunities. In Switzerland, this is particularly true for the transition from elementary school to the stratified system of secondary schools, which oft en is determined by school authorities. Based on the case study of an elementary school in German-speaking Switzerland, this contribution explores accounts in which these decisions are related. Two types of accounts have to be taken into consideration. The first type refers to a student’s performance. This type of account is documented in a rather technical way. It aims to strengthen the procedural rationality of the decision-making process. Another type of accounts is based on material considerations. It refers to the effects of decisions on individual cases. This type of account is communicated to parents in order to achieve consent concerning a recommendation about which type of school a student should attend. The case illustrates that discriminatory decision making can be related to highly institutionalized accounts.

REFERENCES:

• Baron J.N., In the Company of Women: Gender, Inequality, and the Logic of Bureaucracy in Start-up Firms, “Work & Occupation” 2007, No. 34.
• Baron J.N., Organizational Perspectives on Stratification, “Annual Review of Sociology” 1984, No. 10.
• BFM (Bundesamt für Migration), Bericht: Probleme der Integration von Ausländerinnen und Ausländern in der Schweiz, 2006, bfm.admin.ch.
• Bielby W.T., Baron J.N., Men and Women at Work: Sex Segregation and Statistical Discrimination, “American Journal of Sociology” 1986, No. 91.
• Bourdieu P., Passeron J-C., Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture, London 1990.
• Bowles S., Gintis H., Schooling in Capitalist America Revisited, „Sociology of Education” 2002, No. 75.
• Bowles S., Gintis H., Schooling in Capitalist America, New York 1976.
• Brüderl J., Preisendörfer P., Ziegler R., Upward Mobility in Organizations: The Effects of Hierarchy and Opportunity Structure, “European Sociological Review” 1993, No. 9.
• Buchmann M., Charles M., Sacchi S., The Lifelong Shadow. Social Origins and Educational Opportunity in Switzerland [in:] Persistent Inequality. Changing Educational Attainment in Thirteen Countries, Y. Shavit, H.-P. Blossfeld (eds.), Boulder 1993.
• Castilla E., Gender, Race, and Meritocracy in Organizational Careers, “American Journal of Sociology” 2008, No. 113.
• Chubb J.E., Moe M.M., Politics, Markets, and the Organization of Schools, “American Political Science Review” 1988, No. 82.
• Cicourel A.V., Kitsuse J.I., The Educational Decision-Makers, Indianapolis 1963.
• Coradi Vellacott M., Wolter S.C., Chancengerechtigkeit im schweizerischen Bildungswesen, Aarau 2005.
• DiMaggio P., Powell W., Introduction [in:] The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, W.W. Powell, P.J. DiMaggio (eds.), Chicago 1991.
• Dobbin F., Inventing Equal Opportunity, Princeton 2009.
• Gomolla M., Radtke F-O., Institutionelle Diskriminierung. Die Herstellung ethnischer Differenz in der Schule, Opladen 2002.
• Haeberlin U., Imdorf C., Kronig W., Chancenungleichheit bei der Lehrstellensuche, Aarau 2004.
• Haveman H., Cohen L.E., The Ecological Dynamics of Careers: The Impact of Organizational Founding, Dissolution, and Merger on Job Mobility, “American Journal of Sociology” 1994, No. 100.
• Hodges Persell C., Arum R., Seufert K., Racial and Ethnic Educational Inequality in Global Perspective [in:] Handbook of Social Problems. A Comparative International Perspective, G. Ritzer (ed.), Sage (CA) 2004.
• Lucas S.R., Tracking Inequality. Stratification and Mobility in American High Schools, New York 1999.
• Mey E., Rorato M., Voll P., Eidgenössische Volkszählung 2000, Neuchatel 2005.
• Meyer J.W., Ramirez F.O., Soysal Y., World Expansion of Mass Education, 1870–1970, “Sociology of Education” 1992, No. 65.
• Meyer J.W., Ramirez F.O., The World Institutionalization of Education [in:] Discourse Formation in Comparative Education, J. Schriever (ed.), Frankfurt 2000.
• Meyer J.W., Refl ections: The Worldwide Commitment to Educational Equality, “Sociology of Education. Extra Issue 2001” 2001.
• Meyer J.W., Rowan B., Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony, “American Journal of Sociology” 1977, No. 83.
• Meyer J.W., Scott W.R., Cole S., Intili J., Instructional Dissensus and Institutional Consensus in Schools [in:] Environments and Organizations, M.W. Meyer, (ed.), San Fransisco 1978.
• Meyer J.W., Scott W.R., Deal T.E., Institutional and Technical Sources of Organizational Structure: Explaining the Structure of Educational Organizations [in:] Organization and the Human Services, H.D. Stein (ed.), Philadephia 1981.
• Meyer J.W., The Effects of Education as an Institution, “American Journal of Sociology” 1977, No. 83.
• Oakes J., Keeping Track. How Schools Structure Inequality, New Haven (CT) 1985.
• OECD, From Initial Education to Working Life. Making Transitions Work, Paris 2000.
• Orbuch T., People’s Account Count: The Sociology of Accounts, “Annual Review of Sociology” 1997, No. 23.
• Organizational Environments: Ritual and Rationality, J.W. Meyer, W.R. Scott (eds.), Sage (CA) 1983.
• Perrow C., Organizing America. Wealth, Power, and the Origins of Corporate Capitalism, Princeton 2002.
• Persistent Inequality. Changing Educational Attainment in Thirteen Countries, Y. Shavit, H.-P. Blossfeld (eds.), Boulder 1993.
• Pfeffer J., Toward an Examination of Stratification in Organizations, “Administrative Science Quarterly” 1977, No. 22.
• Scott M.B., Lyman S.M., Accounts, “American Sociological Review” 1968, No. 33.
• Scott W.R., Institutions and Organizations, Thousand Oaks (CA) 1995.
• Shavit Y., Müller W., From School to Work. A Comparative Study of Educational Qualifications and Occupational Destinations, Oxford 1998.
• SKBF (Schweizer Koordinationsstelle für Bildungsforschung), Bildungsbericht Schweiz 2006, Aarau 2006.
• Sorensen A., The Basic Concepts of Stratification Research: Class, Status and Power [in:] Social Stratification: Class, Race & Gender in Sociological Perspective, D.N. Grusky (ed.), Boulder 1994.
• Stainback K., Tomaskovic-Devey D., Skaggs S., Organizational Approaches to Inequality: Inertia, Relative Power, and Environments, “Annual Review of Sociology” 2010, No. 36.
• Stinchcombe A., Social Structure and Organizations [in:] Handbook of Organizations, J. March (ed.), Chicago 1965.
• The New Institutionalism in Education, H.D. Meyer, B. Rowan (eds.), New York 2006.
• Wright E.O., Class Counts: Comparative Studies in Class Analysis, Cambridge 1997.