End Seminar: Paolo Velásquez, PhD student, Department of Sociology, Umeå University.
Opponent: Moa Bursell, Institute for Futures Studies
ABSTRACT
This thesis explores one of the most consistent findings in the social sciences, namely, the inverse relationship between education and prejudice. The four studies give insight into how and why education matters for ethnic out-group attitudes, by looking at different aspects of education. The main contributions from this thesis are: 1) that education has the potential to reduce prejudice, albeit in cultural terms; 2) that education has an “inoculation effect”; 3) that the liberalizing effect of education is manifested toward ethnic minorities but not toward the ethnic majority: 4) that the content of education matters; 5) and that education yields separate effects than other SES indicators, such as income and employment status.