The objective of this article is to analyse how the territory operates in the employability of young people who have failed or dropped out of school. As a starting hypothesis, we propose that the local traditions and the productive model linked to the territory condition the training and work expectations of the young population. A case study…

School refusal is a serious problem that negatively affects academic performance, connection to school, and socioemotional well-being of students. Numerous scientific works have suggested that school refusal is associated with internalizing problems. However, it is necessary to determine how this condition may affect certain academic variables,…

The general academic disadvantage faced by children of immigrants is already a well-documented regularity in Spain. However, there is no reliable knowledge on how academic achievement is ethnically stratified and more research is needed to understand the determinants behind these achievement gaps. This study aims to further knowledge of both…

In Europe, Roma and immigrant students continue to experience great inequities, as they face the probabilities of educational failure, segregation, and early school leaving. Previous research has shed light on the multiple factors that perpetuate this situation. However, the role played by family involvement and family educational expectations…

The present paper highlights that social inequality in some rural regions can substantially and harshly affect school coexistence. The present study is carried out in a Spanish rural school, and it aimed to understand which factors affected coexistence and generated situations of exclusion. Participant observation and the different voices in…

This paper addresses aspects of alternative proposals taking place in the public education system, based on an anthropological, ethnographic, comparative study of alternative schools and educational projects in Catalonia. More specifically, it first explores educational change in Catalonia through time and on the present, with a special focus on…

Introduction: In the "new ecology of learning" it is becoming crucial to trace the paths of learning experiences that students develop both in school and outside it. Few research studies have focused on out-of-school activities. In this paper, we explore differences between children and adolescents in their participation through 26…

There is evidence of the impact of school segregation on students' academic achievement, but it is debated whether the extent of this impact is dependent on students' socioeconomic status, or on their native or non-native condition. This research addresses the problem in Spain, seeking to determine how immigrant and socioeconomic segregation…

The purpose of this article is to examine academia and the abuse of power based on auto-ethnographic research. I draw on my experiences across 12 universities in different locations in Spain, the UK and the USA that expose the way power is embedded in institutions of higher education and how it is maintained. This article analyses the exploration…

The process of school choice depends on a wide range of circumstances including those related to the accessibility to schools and parental preferences. This paper has three goals: (1) Identify whether the preferences for the different kinds of schools (public, publicly-funded private, or private) vary according to the family's traits; (2) estimate…

Across Europe, educational institutions are essential in assisting exploration of politics, culture and history, and the use of creative arts appears crucial to supporting this aim. This article reports on Creative Connections, a multi-partner research project that facilitated exchanges for young people to explore their European identities using…

While the globalized nature of contemporary society can be empowering for many, it may mean the maintenance of social iniquities for others, such as migrant populations. Spain, like many other European countries, has faced a high migration influx in the last decades. As a result, the government has invested in measures orientated toward social…

The aim of this article is to propose a new breakdown of the Gini inequality ratio into three components ("within-group" inequality, "between-group" inequality, and intensity of "transvariation" between groups to the total inequality index). The between-group inequality concept computes all the differences in salaries…

This article discusses a 2-year action research project carried out in Catalonia using a sample of seven schools with varying degrees of social and ethnic diversity, focusing on the debate and critical perspectives surrounding the question of family-school relationships. It underlines four considerations, which are seen as symbolic, practical and…

The lockdown of schools in Spain to confront the effects of COVID-19 caused an enormous impact at both societal and educational levels. Schools and families had to react rapidly to a new teaching and learning scenario without the benefit of previous planning or government guidelines. In this context, some schools were better able to adapt to the…