The Effect of Classroom Diversity on Tolerance and Participation in England, Sweden and Germany

Abstract

The belief is widespread in educational circles that ethnically mixed schools contribute to inter-ethnic tolerance and community cohesion. Some political science studies, however, have found that trust and participation are lower in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods. This paper explores the relation between classroom ethno-racial diversity, ethnic tolerance and participation in England, Sweden and Germany using data from the IEA Civic Education Study among 14-year-olds. Controlling for various conditions at the individual and classroom levels, it finds a positive effect of classroom diversity on ethnic tolerance in Sweden and Germany, which is in agreement with the contact perspective on inter-ethnic relations. However, it does not find an effect on tolerance in England. Moreover, classroom diversity only shows a positive relation with participation in Sweden. The effect of diversity thus varies substantially across the two outcomes of interest and the three countries examined. It is therefore tentatively concluded that country-specific factors shape this effect to a significant degree.

Keywords:

• Classroom Diversity
• Ethnic Tolerance
• Political Participation
• Majority–Minority Relations
• Contact and Conflict Perspectives

Acknowledgements

I am most grateful to Andy Green, Geoff Mason and the two anonymous JEMS reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier drafts of this article. This study is part of the research agenda of the Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES), an ESRC-funded research centre, Grant No. RES-594-28-0001.

Notes

1. Not to be confused with the conflict perspective on tolerance.

2. This formula is 1 – (where is the share (s) of group i (i=1, …, n) in classroom c. For a more elaborate explanation of the EFI and illustration with examples, see Green et al. (2006: 204–5).