The project focuses on analysing parental educational decisions in different types of areas (urban – peripheral), the role of emotional and interactive processes in the transition to lower secondary education, and gender-specific negotiations within the family.
Transformative Learning
When it’s time to move on to secondary school, parents have important decisions to make. However, conditions are not the same everywhere—depending on social status and place of residence, educational paths can vary significantly.
About the project
Which school is right for my child? When do I have to decide—and how? These questions preoccupy many families at the end of elementary school. However, the answers vary greatly depending on the social environment in which families live, their everyday reality, and what mothers and fathers consider to be the “right” educational path.
The research project addresses precisely these questions: it examines how parents from different social backgrounds and regions (from large cities to rural areas) make educational decisions, what roles emotions, time pressure, and interaction with schools play—and how these processes are negotiated within the family between mothers and fathers.
The focus lies on the transition from elementary school to secondary school—a particularly crucial moment in the educational process. In rural and structurally weak regions, in particular, this decision is often made under different conditions than in urban areas: fewer school options, longer distances, and less institutional support—all of these factors can influence educational paths before they have even begun.
The dissertation combines theoretical concepts from sociology (including those of Pierre Bourdieu and Annette Lareau) with current social debates on educational equity, gender roles, and the transformation of rural areas. Data from the National Education Panel Study (NEPS) is examined in order to reveal parental educational strategies in a broader context.
The project shows how social inequality arises not only in statistics but also in everyday family life—and how educational decisions, often unnoticed, contribute to the reproduction of these inequalities. Educational transitions, such as those after fourth grade, are key interfaces at which social opportunities are distributed.
Current research focus
Current research focuses on analyzing parental educational decisions in different types of areas (urban – peripheral), the role of emotional and interactive processes in the transition to secondary school, and gender-specific negotiations within the family.
