The reproduction of inequalities at the street level: processes of stereotyped categorization operated by teachers

• Grant number: 20/15430-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: June 01, 2021
• End date: July 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Administration - Public Administration
• Principal Investigator: Gabriela Spanghero Lotta
• Grantee: Gabriela Thomazinho Clementino Sampaio
• Host Institution: Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (EAESP). Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research aims to contribute to the understanding of the reproduction of educational inequalities by investigating how standards of teachers' stereotyped categorization of their students are formed. The theoretical basis will be that of street-level bureaucracy, which brings important contributions on how working conditions, organizational factors, and individual characteristics shape the discretion of professionals implementing public policies.The bureaucrats carry out a process of categorization with each citizen they meet, categorization that can be based on stereotyped social categories and generate decisions based on these stereotypes. We will investigate which individual, organizational and institutional factors guide the categorization process of a specific street-level bureaucrat: the teachers. In addition to a theoretical review, a case study will be carried out with teachers who work in different organizational and institutional contexts, so that this variability allows us to find out if stereotyped categorization processes are more frequent with some profiles of teachers and specific contexts. (AU)