Browsing by Subject "Kouluvalinnat"

The signs of growing segregation between urban schools have shaken the perception of school equity in Helsinki during the last two decades and raised the question of whether school choices made by families are deepening the differences between schools. At the same time, recent observations have brought up concerns whether especially schools located geographically close to each other can be found segregated in Helsinki as well. The purpose of this study is to deepen the understanding of school choice mechanisms and to examine pupils’ school choices in a more limited small-scale area, rather than the whole city. In addition to this, the study seeks to highlight the importance of the local school markets, which has so far received relatively little attention in the Finnish debate. The study concentrates on pupils attending upper comprehensive schools in northern and north-eastern Helsinki, whose school choices have been studied using questionnaire data collected for the MetrOP-project (2010-2013). A total of 794 students who attended upper comprehensive school in northern or north-eastern Helsinki and lived in the area could be extracted from the MetrOP data. The school choices made by the pupils have been studied with statistical methods which made it possible to examine the directions of school choice flows in the research area. Moreover, the study concentrates to analyse whether school choices are guided by the socio-economic characteristics of school’s enrollment area. Socio-economic indicators have been examined using data from Statistics Finland's grid database. The results of the study showed upper comprehensive schools in northern and north-eastern Helsinki were divided into those that attracted students much more strongly and to those that were less popular in the local school market. In addition, identifiable school choice flows from one neighborhood to another could be found in the research area, confirming the assumption of greater attractiveness of some schools in respect to other ones in the vicinity. Socio-economic variables would often seem to explain the popularity of some schools, but the relative wellbeing or disadvantage of school’s enrollment area did not explain all school choices made in northern and north-eastern Helsinki. Therefore, it can be assumed that there is a more multifaceted set of factors influencing the local school markets and the choices made by local families.