Read The Blackwell Companion to Sociology Online
Authors: Judith R Blau
ment. Finally, peers affect a student's tendency to engage in deviant behavior,
to be truant, and to drop out of school.
Effects of Organizational Context on School Outcomes
A few studies have examined the effects of the formal organization of the school or classroom on student cognitive and social outcomes. Bossert (1979) found
that an elementary school classroom in which student competition was stressed
had a wider achievement distribution than a classroom in which cooperative
activities were encouraged. Schofield and Sagar (1977) showed that when
middle-school classrooms were detracked, blacks and whites were more likely
to mix socially. The organizational effects on student achievement observed in
these studies are attributed to the influence of normative and comparative
reference groups, though these mechanisms are not tested directly.
Studies also show the effects of the organization of a school or classroom on
student peer relations and friendships. Students assigned to the same class or
ability group are exposed to the same curriculum, share academic experiences,
and usually work together on common projects. The propinquity and similarity
imposed by membership in the same ability group encourages friendship. More-
over, student friendships that form within the boundaries of an instructional or social grouping in school are more likely to endure than those that form across
organizational units.
Several empirical studies demonstrate how school and classroom context
affect the likelihood that students become and remain friends. Hallinan
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and Sorensen (1985) found that assigning students to the same ability group
increased the likelihood of their becoming friends and of forming cliques. In
another study, Hallinan (1976) demonstrated that student-centered classrooms
that encouraged student interaction had a less hierarchized distribution of
friendship choices and fewer social isolates and sociometric leaders than
teacher-centered classrooms with little student interaction. Similarly, Felmlee
and Hallinan (1979) found that the greater the amount of peer interaction in
a classroom, the more uniformly distributed are the students' friendship choices.
Organizational features of schools affect the likelihood of cross-race as well as same-race friendships (Hallinan and Teixeira, 1987; Hallinan and Williams,
1987, 1989). The interpersonal mechanisms that lead to same-race friendships,
including propinquity, similarity, complementarity, and reciprocity, also govern cross-race friendships. Students of different races are more likely to become
friends when they belong to the same group. In addition, when a school climate
supports cross-race friendships and encourages cooperative behavior, and when
school practices and policies reward students with various talents from all racial groups, cross-race friendships are likely to form. Hence, racially mixed academic or social groups are likely to promote cross-race friendships, while more segregated groups are likely to deter them.
Effects of School Climate on Student Outcomes
In one of the earliest studies of the effects of school climate on behavior, Coleman (1961) described a strong adolescent subculture in which boys esteem
athletics, girls value beauty, and both respect academic achievement. Athletes,
cheerleaders, and high academic achievers were more popular than their peers.
The adolescent subculture affected pupils' self-image and achievement. Cusick
(1973) portrayed a large public high school in which several cliques with
different subcultures coexisted and exerted differential effects on student aca-
demic performance.
Following these studies, a number of survey analyses were conducted to
examine the effects of school climate on student achievement. In the aftermath
of mandatory school desegregation, researchers examined how the racial com-
position of a school (viewed as an indicator of academic climate or social class) affected student outcomes (for reviews of early empirical studies, see Spady,
1973; Crain and Mahard, 1978). The findings typically showed that black
students attained higher achievement in majority white schools. Other studies
show that the normative climate of a school, referred to as `ènvironmental
press'' (Thistlewaite and Wheeler, 1966), influenced a student's aspirations,
achievement, college plans, and career goals. In general, the research indicates that the stronger the academic climate of a school, the higher the academic
outcomes.
While the interest of researchers in contextual effects on student outcomes
declined in the 1980s and early 1990s, a study of public and private schools
refocused attention on context as a socializing agent. In a comparison of public and private school achievement, Coleman et al. (1983) found that Catholic
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Maureen T. Hallinan
school students had higher academic achievement than public school students.
Attempting to explain this Catholic school advantage, Bryk et al. (1993) ana-
lyzed both survey and observational data on Catholic schools. They concluded
that the higher achievement of Catholic school students was due to a supportive
communal school atmosphere, a common academic curriculum, and high educa-
tional expectations for all students.
Bryk et al. argue that Catholic school students participate in a voluntary
community which provides personal support from peers who share a common
commitment to the school's mission of working for social justice and the com-
mon good. This commitment leads students and teachers to attach greater value
to education than they would if they were in a school without a communal
environment and shared mission. Bryk et al. claim that any school that empha-
sizes community values and/or provides a moral or ethical context should
improve student learning. Their study should motivate further research on
how school context affects student behavior in order to identify ways public
schools might create a community environment more supportive of students and
of the school's educational goals.
In general, conceptualizing the school as a formal and informal organization
has yielded a rich body of research that explains how schools operate in society.
The theoretical ideas that motivated empirical research on organizational char-
acteristics of schools and their effects on students' cognitive and social behavior provided an intellectual coherence to this research and allowed systematic progress to be made. This research tradition remains one of the most robust in the
field of sociology of education.
Transition from School
School to Work
Since the main function of schooling is to prepare students to live effectively in adult society, the transition from school to work is of central interest to sociologists of education. The study of this transition has developed along two parallel lines. One body of research examines characteristics of US schools and the US
labor market and how they facilitate or constrain the transition process. The
other body of work compares the structural and organizational features of
schools and the labor market in different countries and investigates how institutional differences across countries lead to variation in students' post-secondary opportunities.
Research on the transition from school to work may be located in a larger
body of sociological research on social stratification and social mobility. Stratification research has described the hierarchical ordering of occupations and
professions in society and how individuals are channeled into this stratified
labor market. Sociologists of education have contributed to this research by
studying the antecedents of educational achievement and attainment and the
role these educational outcomes play in the process of social mobility.
Stratification and mobility research has concentrated primarily on individual-
level determinants of occupational attainment. In contrast, research on the
Research in the Sociology of Education
369
transition from school to work adopts an institutional perspective and focuses
on the way characteristics of schools and of the labor market channel occupa-
tional opportunities to individuals leaving school and entering the labor force.
The research concentrates on the transition from secondary school to work, but
also examines the progression from higher education to an individual's occupa-
tional destination.
Transition from School to Work in the United States
High school graduates who do not attend college experience high unemploy-
ment, frequent job turnover, and low salaries (Rosenbaum and Kariya, 1989;
Borman, 1991). Fewer than half of all high school students who choose not to
attend college obtain jobs by the time they graduate, and more than half of these students continue to work the part-time jobs they held during high school
(University Consultants, 1978). By the time they are 27 years old, high
school graduates will have experienced approximately 4.5 spells of periods of
unemployment (Veum and Weiss, 1993).
One reason for the difficult transition from school to work in the United States is the fact that the transition lacks structure. Students are not presented with a set of steps that would lead them to employment. In most comprehensive high
schools in the United States, teenagers are offered a wide array of academic,
general, and vocational courses. Schools allow students considerable leeway in
constructing their high school programs. Graduation requirements include com-
pletion of a set of academic courses and a number of electives selected from
across the curricular offerings.
The most definitive preparation for future employment is found in a high
school's vocational program. Many students take one or more vocational
courses out of interest in the area or to prepare for a particular career or
occupation. Vocational programs may include various kinds of on-the-job train-
ing, such as internships, work-study programs, and summer employment. Some
vocational programs lead to licensing in a craft or occupation or award a
certificate of competence in a particular area.
Research shows that vocational training in high school increases the like-
lihood of a student's obtaining a job after graduation and has a positive impact on salary compared to similar students without vocational training (Campbell et
al., 1986; Kang and Bishop, 1986). Nevertheless, only a minority of students
with vocational training work in occupations that utilize their training (Bishop, 1988). Consequently, while vocational training may ease the transition from
school to work for some students, the benefits of vocational education are lost
for those students whose training is not utilized.
Other than vocational programs, schools provide little job preparation
for students. Only 37 percent of American high schools offer job place-
ment services (Arvey and Faley, 1988). These schools tend to focus on in-
school training, such as how to fill out a job application and how to act
during an interview, rather than formal outreach procedures to develop job
openings.
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Maureen T. Hallinan
Similarly, the search of employers for qualified workers is largely unstruc-
tured. Employers seldom seek contacts with high schools to identify qualified
candidates to fill their positions. While employers may require a high school
diploma as a job requisite, the diploma provides little information about a
student's job qualifications. Employers tend to ignore high school grades and
test scores in their recruitment efforts. Lacking critical information about students and their skills and preparation for a particular occupation, employers are not in a position to make the most suitable hire, nor are employment agencies
able to direct students toward appropriate employment.
In the absence of a structured transition from school to work, informal
contacts play a critical role for some students. Granovetter's (1974) classic
research on getting a job has pointed to social contacts as a powerful tool to
expedite a job search. Granovetter showed that weak ties in the form of contacts with acquaintances and casual friends can be more instrumental in a job search
than strong ties with close friends and relatives.
High school counselors and teachers are strategically located organizationally
to link students to future employers. Since US employers typically do not have
mechanisms to request information from high schools to help them identify
prospective employees, information provided informally by teachers and coun-
selors is particularly useful.
Although not many employers utilize informal social contacts in their
search for new workers, those who do benefit from the help they receive. Bishop
(1993) reported that 5 percent of employers have contacts with schools
which, they claim, are a useful source of productive employees. Students
recruited from schools typically obtain higher status jobs (Holzer, 1995) than
those hired from other sources and earn higher salaries (Rosenbaum and Roy,
1996).
The difficulty that high school students have in obtaining their first job is also experienced by students who have had some college education. Only half of the