Annabell Zentarra

Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS)
University of Bremen
Wiener Straße/Celsiusstraße (FVG)
PO Box 33 04 40
28334 Bremen
Germany

Room: M2160

Phone: +49 (0)421 218 66362
Fax: +49 (0)421 218 66353

E-Mail: zentarra@bigsss-bremen.de

Annabell Zentarra is pursuing a Ph.D. in Social Sciences and is specialising in the field of Life-Course and Lifespan Dynamics. She is member of the BIGSSS joint research group "Migration and social inequality: Opportunities for integration between institutions and the life course" funded by the Hans-Boeckler Foundation.

Dissertation Topic

Preliminary Title

Die Folgen der ethnischen Zusammensetzung von Peernetzwerken im Übergang von der Grundschule in die Sekundarstufe.

The impact of the ethnic composition of peer networks in transition from primary to secondary school.

Abstract

This dissertation proposal deals with the assumed change in social capital caused by the transition from primary to secondary school and the selection by the German school system due to social structural characteristics. I assume that social capital becomes worse in quality for children of immigrant families. In this case, there must also be a decrease in school attachment and appreciation of school performance. This result would be evidence that the German school system does not make use of the integrative potential of ethnically and socially mixed social networks by reason of its high selectivity. According to this, there are two main questions: Is there a significant difference in the composition of social capital of school children before and after the transition from primary to secondary schools? And does this social capital have an influence on the school success of the children?

To answer these questions, I will examine the effects of the ethnic composition of social capital in the immigration country Germany and the tie strength in terms of Granovetters “Strong and Weak Tie Argument” (1973) on social integration, social conflicts, school attachment and school performance before and after the transition from primary to secondary school.

In this project the research question will be investigated by using the method of social network analysis. To date there is a lack of network analytical research on social contexts of interethnic relations in the early life course. Furthermore, most of the limited network analytical research has been done by analyzing egocentric networks. However, in order to cover social environments, it is necessary to analyze total networks. For that reason, I will use panel network data collected from the DFG project “Dynamics of social assimilation of immigrant children in multiplex peer networks”, which map the total networks on the unit of school classes.  

Academic Supervisors

• Prof. Dr. Michael Windzio, University of Bremen, Department of Sociology
• Prof. Dr. Irena Kogan, University of Mannheim, Department of Societal Comparisons

Research Interests

• Educational Sociology
• Migration Sociology
• Social Network Analysis