Social–ethnic school composition and disengagement: An inquiry into the perceived control explanation

•We study perceived control as mediator between school composition and engagement.•We expect low SES and high ethnic concentration to decrease control and engagement.•Students in low SES schools are less engaged.•Perceived control mediates the association between SES composition and engagement.•Ethnic concentration fosters control and engagement, notably for ethnic minorities.

In many Western countries, increasing levels of immigration have raised concerns over the outcomes of social–ethnic segregation in schools. This study relates social–ethnic school composition to students’ behavioral, emotional, and cognitive disengagement. While previous research mostly remains atheoretical, this current study investigates the applicability of the perceived control explanation, with the expectation that attending low socioeconomic status (SES) schools and schools with a higher proportion of ethnic minority pupils lowers students’ perceived control and hence produces disengagement. Multilevel analyses on data from the Flemish Educational Assessment, consisting of 11,759 students in 83 Flemish secondary schools, show that students in lower SES schools are more likely to disengage behaviorally and emotionally from school. This association is, as expected, mediated by feelings of perceived control. Higher ethnic minority concentration, however, yields lower disengagement, especially for ethnic minority students. The implications are discussed.