Abstract (eng)
School as a reproduction site of social inequality has been the focus of social science research on inequality for several years. Despite the knowledge about reproducing mechanisms, the educational system in Austria still contributes a considerable part to the maintenance of existing inequality relations. The interplay between social origin and the field of schooling stabilizes the disadvantage of some and the privilege of others. A special feature of the Austrian education system is its segmented structure, which is accompanied by an initial selection of students after the four-year primary level into rather better-performing students into the Allgemeinbildende Höhere Schule (AHS) and rather weaker-performing students into the (Neue) Mittelschule (NMS). However, even after completing the NMS, students can switch to an upper secondary school according to their academic performance in order to gain access to higher education. While the impact of social background on students' skill acquisition and achievement has been extensively studied, the role of teachers is often relegated to the background. Most studies that focus on the contribution of teachers to the reproduction of educational inequality are methodologically situated in qualitative social research. The following study focuses on the role of teachers at the end of NMS: Is there a connection between the social background of students and the recommendation of their teachers for a upper secondary school, with the school grades being equal? Although these recommendations, as perceived by the students, are not a prerequisite for transfer to the upper secondary school, they can encourage or discourage them. Accordingly, the following further question is then examined: For which social groups do teachers' recommendations matter for further education? The questions will be analyzed using the quantitative data from "Ways to the Future." For the first question, a logistic regression is calculated with the data of the first wave on the probability that the teachers recommend a further school. This variable is the central explanatory variable in the second analysis step, in which a logistic regression is used to calculate the probability of attending a baccalaureate-leading school. Here, data from the second or third wave are used as a supplement. Following Pierre Bourdieu, the social origin is represented by various indicators that show the economic, social and cultural capital of the students. The study comes to the conclusion that the social origin of the students has an impact on whether their teachers want them to go to upper secondary school. This relationship holds even when controlling for average grades in English, mathematics, and German at the end of NMS. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the teachers' recommendation for young people with a low social position is more strongly related to their educational path than for those with a high social position. However, the few statistically significant findings do not paint a consistent picture, as the analysis reaches its limits due to the small number of cases in the subsequent waves.