Diverse Roots, Diverse Views? The Role of Demographic Diversity in the Classroom

Schools are often considered a practice ground for citizenship, where students from diverse backgrounds can encounter and engage with different viewpoints. Yet, persistent patterns of socio-ethnic segregation in education raise concerns that classrooms risk turning into “bubbles of like-mindedness,” limiting students’ exposure to alternative perspectives. This study examined how demographic diversity and aspects of citizenship education relate to classroom diversity in democratic attitudes – defined as variation in how students position themselves with regard to competing democratic values. Classroom demographic diversity is operationalized in terms of students’ socioeconomic status, ethnic background, religious affiliation, and gender. Aspects of citizenship education include the openness of the classroom climate for discussion and the frequency of civic teacher-student interaction. Multilevel analyses of 154 classrooms in 40 Dutch secondary schools revealed that socioeconomic diversity was the strongest predictor: more socioeconomically diverse classrooms displayed greater diversity in democratic attitudes. Regarding the aspects of citizenship education, only perceived openness of the classroom climate showed an association with diversity in democratic attitudes, though this relationship was inconsistent and varied in direction. These findings build on earlier research into students’ encounters with different viewpoints and highlight implications for educational segregation and the role of schools as practice grounds for democratic citizenship.