Ethics Newsline®

From Bristol University:

“English schoolchildren from different ethnic backgrounds are more segregated in the playground than in their neighborhoods, according to new research by Professor Simon Burgess and Dr. Deborah Wilson of the Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO). Ethnic segregation is particularly high for pupils of South Asian origin, both at secondary school and in their neighborhoods.

“The researchers use a measure of ethnic segregation that captures the evenness of spread of different groups of pupils across schools, or neighborhoods, within a larger geographical area. An area is highly segregated if a significant proportion of pupils would have to move schools (neighborhoods) in order to achieve an even distribution across each unit.

“So, for example, if 20 percent of the school population of a local education authority (LEA) is of Indian ethnic origin, there is no segregation if in each school 20 percent of the pupils are of Indian ethnic origin…. The more the actual distribution is uneven, the higher the degree of segregation. This index of unevenness ranges from 0 to 1: a figure of 0.6, for example, means that 60 percent of pupils from a certain group would need to move to achieve an even spread.

“…The researchers find that:

• “Levels of segregation are generally high. In the average LEA, the index is around 0.5….
• “There is substantial variation in the levels of segregation experienced in different areas of England.
• “There are differences across the minority ethnic groups: South Asians generally experience higher levels of segregation than their black peers, both at school and in their neighborhoods….
• “For both South Asian and black students, school segregation is higher than residential segregation in areas in which they are more numerous. These are generally some of the more densely populated, urban areas of England. This suggests that there is a loosening of the relationship between school and residential segregation in areas in which there is more school choice.

“The secondary school-age population of the country as a whole comprises approximately 87 percent white pupils, 6 percent of South Asian origin, and 3 percent of black heritage. While most schools and wards are overwhelmingly white (with medians of 97 percent and 96 percent respectively), there is substantial geographical variation, largely reflecting the residential clustering of different minority groups across England. For example, there are only 16 LEAs with more than 5 percent pupils of black Caribbean heritage; and only 6 LEAs have more than 10 percent of pupils of Pakistani ethnic origin….”