Differentiation in secondary education and inequality in educational opportunities: The case of Switzerland

Sociologists working in the field of education and stratification have long been concerned with how far not only ability and performance but also selection by social and migration background along with gender account for differences in young people’s educational attainment. Research has recognized the complex entanglement of institutional, social, and individual characteristics that shape both educational opportunities and educational attainment. The significance of these characteristics is most visible at transitions in the educational system. In differentiated and stratified educational systems, these transitions involve placement into educational tracks with different academic requirements. For Switzerland, we examine how ability, school performance, and student social characteristics affect track placement to lower and upper secondary schooling and how allocation to secondary-level tracks determines tertiary education enrolment.