DiveIn Miniserie Educational Segregation in Spain Ep. 3: The Causes

About this episode

This episode explores the causes of school segregation in Spain and the Basque Country, examining structural forces and policies that contribute to the issue.

In this third episode of our DiveIn miniseries on school segregation in Spain, we move beyond the headlines and ask a difficult question: What actually causes school segregation in Spain and the Basque Country? After following the grassroots movement pushing the issue into the Basque parliament, we now dive into the deeper structural forces shaping who attends which schools—and why. Through conversations with leading researchers and policy experts, this episode unpacks the complex web behind segregation: publicly funded private schools ( escuelas concertadas ), school choice policies, hidden fees, language politics, middle-class flight, and cultural barriers facing immigrant families. You’ll hear how Spain’s dual school system creates powerful incentives for social sorting, but also why the story is far more complicated than simply blaming private-public partnerships. Experts challenge simplistic explanations and reveal how segregation is increasingly happening within school networks—including inside public schools themselves. This episode also explores one of the most fascinating and politically sensitive issues in the Basque Country: language as a mechanism of segregation. Can…

People in this episode

Host: Federico R. Waitoller

Topics covered

• educational segregation
• school choice policies
• language politics
• cultural barriers
• social sorting
• immigrant families
• Basque Country

Keywords

• school segregation
• Basque Country
• educational policies
• private-public partnerships
• language immersion
• cultural resistance
• social inequality

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Basque parliament, escuelas concertadas

Places: Spain, Basque Country

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