What a girl wants : An ethnographic study on the aspirations of ‘white’ Dutch girls in multi-ethnic vocational schools

Within the sociology of education and migration, ‘white’ girls are a blind spot in terms of the research into inequality and educational disadvantage. Few scholars focus on minority ‘white’ Dutch girls in schools where the majority of children are of immigrant origin. This ethnographic study provides detailed insights into how these minority ‘white’ Dutch girls function within the Netherlands’ complicated school system. The girls attend lower Dutch vocational education (VMBO basic and MBO level 2) where the risk of leaving school without a diploma is comparatively high. Early selection into these vocational tracks at the age of twelve had led to systematic restrictions in terms of their future education and the development and realisation of their aspirations. The dissertation engages in the theoretical discussion on early school leaving, students’ aspirations and the intersection of race, whiteness and social class in a Dutch context.