Abstract

AbstractThis chapter offers a systematic review of social science research in Norway on ethnic inequalities in education, from the period 1980–2017. Three broad research traditions are identified: (1) Ethnic inequalities in educational enrolment, achievement, and attainment; (2) Immigrant families and ethnic minority communities as resources for educational careers; and (3) Curriculum, teacher instruction, and student experiences with inclusion and exclusion. Most of the research conducted in Norway focuses on describing and explaining the educational outcomes of children of immigrants from non-European countries, and is characterized by the use of quantitative research methods and access to rich population-wide registry data. Main groups studied in the qualitative traditions are typically children of immigrants from Pakistan, Vietnam, Sri-Lanka, Morocco and Turkey. This rich body of research is written in both Norwegian and English, and has developed in a context characterized by a close collaborative relationship between researchers and the government, in response to a growing concern about social cohesion within the Norwegian social-democratic welfare state.

Highlights

  • Immigration to Norway from non-European origin countries started relatively late compared to many other Western European countries (Brochmann and Kjeldstadli 2008; Dustmann and Frattini 2013)

  • After the European Union (EU) enlargements in 2004 and 2007, Norway has experienced a rapid increase in labour immigration flows from new EU member states in Eastern Europe, in particular Poland and the Baltic countries

  • We have identified three research traditions, each covering related strands of research on ethnic inequalities in education in Norway

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Summary

Introduction

Research on ethnic inequalities in education has a relatively short history in Norway. This largely reflects that there was generally little awareness of ethnic diversity before the start of non-European immigration around 1970, despite the long presence of several smaller ethnic minorities in the Norwegian population, as well as the indigenous Sami (Brochmann and Kjeldstadli 2008). There has been a growing interest in ethnic inequalities in education from both policymakers and academic researchers, reflecting the rapidly increasing population share of immigrants and their Norwegian-born descendants. The chapter starts with a description of the Norwegian national context and a discussion of the methods we used for the review. We present and discuss three key research traditions, identified based on our analysis of the relevant literature, in the main body of the chapter. The chapter concludes with a critical discussion of the relationship between the different research traditions, and our conclusions regarding the state and future of Norwegian research in the field

National Context
The Norwegian Educational System
Tertiary education
Immigration and Ethnic Minorities in Norway
Distribution by age group
The Sami and Norwegian National Minorities
Integration and Institutional Setting in the Norwegian Welfare State
The Development of Norwegian Education Policies
Methods
Other origin countries
Experiences with Inclusion and Exclusion
Findings
Discussion and Conclusions
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