The Role of Media in School and Neighborhood Reputation Formation, and its Effect on School and Residential Segregation

Previous studies suggest that individuals’ subjective perception of the reputation of schools and residential areas influences their decisions about where to live and which school to attend.

We however know little about the nature of those reputations, how they come about, and how they eventually might impact the segregation of schools and neighborhoods.

This project extends previous work by providing a holistic perspective of how the school-neighborhood portrayals in newspapers and online platforms affect the patterns of school and residential segregation.The first stage of the project will focus on evaluating the reputation itself.

Using data from digital social-media sites and the Swedish newspapers, we will measure school and neighborhood reputations in Stockholm city.

Then, we will analyze which characteristics of the schools and neighborhoods contribute to shaping their reputations and whether those are results of media bias. The second stage will evaluate the effect of reputation on segregation patterns.

Using Swedish register data on residential mobility and education, we will assess how reputation influences the neighborhood and school choices across different ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

Lastly, we will implement a simulation platform to assess the cumulative effect of reputation on segregation and gauge the potential impact of integrative policy initiatives based on changing schools and neighborhood portrayal in the media.