@inproceedings{01K65M26PZ0V02SK5G7W58K9C0,
  abstract     = {{Students from ethnic minority groups and underprivileged socioeconomic
backgrounds are significantly more likely to repeat a grade, even when their academic
performance, language skills and school misconduct are comparable to that of their
peers. This is concerning, as grade retention severely reduces a student’s chance of
completing secondary education. Retained students are, for instance, three to seven
times less likely to obtain a degree in secondary education. This means that grade
retention may function as a hidden mechanism through which social inequality is
reproduced. Yet, the specific processes behind these disparities remain poorly
understood. This study investigates whether and how teachers’ implicit biases related
to students' ethnicity and socioeconomic status shape both their grade retention
decision-making and student-specific expectations. Implicit bias refers to unconscious
attitudes or stereotypes held by gatekeepers, which can lead to unequal outcomes by
subtly shaping their judgements and decisions. Flanders provides a compelling case
study due to its combination of high retention rates and considerable teacher
autonomy, making the educational system particularly vulnerable to bias-driven
outcomes. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, combining an online survey
featuring embedded video vignettes with in-depth interviews. The sample consists of 706
teachers from grades 9 to 12, drawn from 58 randomly selected secondary schools
across Flanders and the Dutch-speaking community of Brussels, ensuring
generalizability. Each teacher viewed one of six video vignettes, featuring a male
student actor that tells about his academic underperformance. The vignettes follow an
identical script but vary in ethnicity - signalled by the student’s name, skin color, and
language use - and in socioeconomic status, indicated by clothing, availability of study
space at home, and single-parent household status. This setup allows us to test for
intersectional biases in attitudes, attributions of school failure, and decision-making.
Additionally, we explore how teacher and school characteristics relate to retention
decision-making. Follow-up interviews with a purposive sample of teachers who
participated in the survey provide insight into their reasoning. Overall, identifying the
stereotypes of teachers is an important step forward in understanding why certain
groups of students are more likely to be retained than others. Recognizing these biases
could help policy makers and school boards to address implicit bias formation among
their teachers, potentially breaking the connection between grade retention as an
educational intervention for academic underperformance and the reproduction of
social inequalities. This is especially relevant in educational systems that rely on teacher
autonomy, rather than standardized test scores, to determine whether a student should
repeat a grade or not. Preliminary findings and policy recommendations will be
discussed.}},
  author       = {{Van Canegem, Timo and Van Houtte, Mieke and Demanet, Jannick}},
  booktitle    = {{ESA RN10 Midterm Warsaw, Proceedings}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Warsaw}},
  title        = {{How is social inequality reproduced by grade retention? Examining implicit bias among teachers.}},
  url          = {{https://www.aps.edu.pl/news/esa-rn10-mid-term-conference/}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}