Ethnic inequalities in education: second-generation Russians in Estonia

Abstract

This paper investigates ethnic educational inequality in Estonia focusing on second-generation Russians. In Estonia, contrary to many other European countries, the overall educational attainment of second-generation immigrants has, compared to their parents, diverged from the educational attainment of the native population. Our results from logistic regression analysis indicate that the odds of Russians continuing in general secondary and higher education are lower compared to native Estonians. Parental economic, cultural, and host country specific resources do not account for ethnic differences in educational transition. Adolescents’ own language proficiency and citizenship have a strong impact on educational decisions. We conclude that the Estonian education system contributes to the emergence of ethnic differences. While basic and secondary schools function in either the Estonian or Russian languages, the curricula in public higher education institutions are taught mainly in Estonian, which might lower expectations of success amongst Russian adolescents.

Keywords:

• Education
• Estonia
• language
• Russian minority
• second generation
• social background

Acknowledgements

This study has been prepared as part of the research projects funded by Estonian Science Foundation (grants no. 7720 and no. 7820).

Notes

1. According to the Citizenship Law, individuals who were citizens before 1940 and their descendants were granted citizenship. The other option for achieving citizenship is through naturalization, for which individuals have to pass an examination to demonstrate their knowledge of the Estonian language and the country. Children born after 1991 achieve citizenship without naturalization. (All the respondents of the TIES survey of 2007/2008 were born before 1991).

2. Until 1999, students could also opt for specialized secondary education.

3. More information about the TIES project and the descriptive report of results is available at: http://www.tiesproject.eu/.