New Game, New Chance? Social Inequalities and Upgrading Secondary School Qualifications in West Germany

In Germany, research on inequalities in secondary education has concentrated mainly on the unequal allocation of primary school children from different social backgrounds to secondary schools. As a result, knowledge about alternative paths of secondary education is scarce. These alternative paths were introduced to reduce inequalities by offering children from less favourable social backgrounds a 'second chance' to attain higher secondary education. Up to now, little is known about whether or not such alternative paths of secondary education actually reduce inequalities. Using newly available data, this empirical study investigates the utilization of these atypical paths. Results show that a significant proportion of individuals (overall, about 27 per cent) upgrade their initial level of secondary education. Hence, the highly stratified German educational system is far more open than previously assumed. Nonetheless, this openness has failed to reduce inequalities. Quite the contrary, inequalities have increased further, because it is especially members of already privileged social groups who use alternative paths in secondary education.