26.09.2024Talk by Lea Buzzi

The Zurich Project on the Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z-proso) started in 2004 with a target sample of N=1,675 children that entered primary school in that year. Since then, the study has tracked the development of a diverse, multicultural sample of youths from age 7 (n = 1,360) to age 24 (n = 1,160), with primary data collection waves at ages 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 20 and 24. The study uses a multi-method, multi-informant design that combines teacher, youth, and parent reports with observational and behavioural measures, biosampling, functional imaging, and ecological momentary assessment. The Zurich Department of Education additionally provided official school record data for all z-proso participants who consented to have these data collected for the z-proso study. The records encompass information on the type of school, subject, and qualification level of participants for each school year between 2000 and 2022. These data can be used to model educational trajectories of z-proso participants from kindergarten to completion of compulsory school and subsequently upper secondary education. In combination with the z-proso survey data, factors associated with these educational trajectories can be examined. Looking at educational inequalities, we find that parental socio-economic status, parents' level of education, migration background, and school performance in primary school each have a significant influence on the level of schooling at lower secondary level. We also find large gender differences among people with a migration background: The share of females with a migration background in the lowest performance level is decreasing from primary school to upper secondary level, and the gap to participants without a migration background is closed at upper secondary level, while the proportion of young men with a migration background at the lowest performance level continues to increase, widening the gap to those without a migration background.

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