Individuen, gezinnen en buurten: sociale determinanten van het onderwijsniveau

Status effects on educational attainment are usually investigated by studying individuals. Sibling research has pointed to the fact that we should study more individuals per family in order to assess the importance of family factors on individual achievement. But social determinants are not limited to the boarders of the family; networks of peers and acquaintances are located primarily in the neighbourhood. By using multi-level techniques the relative importance of individual, family and neighbourhood factors are estimated, and consequently predicted by social and cultural factors. The individual factor is the most important one, and although neighbourhood effects are clearly existent, they can be explained by the homogeneity of family indicators - like occupational and educational status of the parents and the networks of the families - within neighbourhoods.