Análisis de la segregación escolar por nivel socioeconómico en Ecuador y sus cantones en el año 2015 y 2019

Abstract

School segregation by socioeconomic level refers to the unequal distribution of students in education centers based on their socioeconomic level, a barely studied topic in Ecuador. This article seeks to quantify the level of school segregation in Ecuador and its cantons, analyze if it has changed in 2019 compared to 2015, and if it is heterogeneous at the cantonal level. To answer these questions, the "Ser Bachiller" database is explored for 2015 and 2019, separately. At the national level, four segregation indicators are calculated: the Gorard index, the Square Root index and the Reardon index (equality dimension), and the Isolation index (exposure dimension). At the cantonal level, a representative indicator in each dimension is calculated: the Gorard index and the Isolation index. The calculation is executed by defining quartiles of the Student Socioeconomic Index (ISEC) at the national level. The results point out that, at the country level, school segregation decreased in 2019 compared to 2015, and that its highly heterogeneous at the subnational level. Our results align to the literature in that higher concentrations from one socio-economic level translates into lower levels of segregation by equality but higher levels of segregation by exposure. That is, students are more alike and, therefore, less exposed to others from different backgrounds. Finally, a cluster analysis of the cantons is carried out, generating four segregation profiles that are well differentiated in terms of segregation, poverty and socioeconomic composition.