Abstract

Drawing from existing literature on the teacher’s role in shaping students’ educational trajectories, the impact of social backgrounds and inherent attributes on school transitions and an intersectional approach, this paper investigates the extent to which teachers are influenced by students’ ascribed characteristics when determining the appropriateness of different educational paths. Through an experimental survey involving the random distribution of fictitious student profiles, which were identical except for gender, ethnicity, and social class, we gathered input from 188 lower secondary school teachers on each profile. Subsequently, we conducted a multivariate analysis using logistic regression models. The data reveal that, for certain educational pathways like high school in the humanities, gender significantly shapes teachers’ perceptions, while for others, such as the Gymnasium, social class and ethnic origin play a more substantial role. In the case of vocational high schools, a combination of gender, origin, and social class holds greater significance in teachers’ decision-making processes.