I am an Associate Professor at the Sociology Department at the University of Amsterdam, affiliated with the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), the Amsterdam Centre for Inequality Studies, and the programme group Institutions, Inequalities and Life courses (IIL).

In my work I try to understand which factors contribute to educational (in)equality between students from different social backgrounds. I am particularly interested in how the larger educational context (of the e.g., school, educational system) contribute to this (in)equality.

The past few years, I have primarily focused on inequality in teacher expectations and tracking recommendations (‘schooladviezen’ in Dutch). This work was funded by a Veni grant from The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) (2018-2024; “What do you expect? Studying teacher expectations through an institutional lens”; see below for a short description). Currently, I am the PI of a project in which – together with educational professionals – we use my Veni findings as well as newly collected data to explore how to design and implement scientifically-informed tracking procedures that enhance equal educational opportunities (funded by the Amsterdam University Fund (AUF) and an NWO Impact Explorer grant). I am also a co-PI of the NWO/NRO-funded project “Making or breaking the class ceiling: growth-affording teacher beliefs and practices in a selective school system”, in which we study how schools’ and teachers’ ideas and practices with respect to selection relate to (in)equality in educational opportunities. Between 2019-2024, I was a co-PI of the PRIMS project, a study on students’ transition from primary to secondary school in the Netherlands (NWO/NRO, 2019-2024).  

My research interests include:

• Educational sociology;
• Social stratification;
• Teacher expectations and track recommendations;
• Social networks;
• Quantitative methods and statistics.

For more information about my research, please visit my website

Publications

Refereed academic publications

Geven, S. (2024). Tracking Procedures and Criteria and the SES Bias in Teacher Track Recommendations. American Educational Research Journal, Online first. 

Zwier, D. & Geven, S. (2023). Knowing me, knowing you: Socio-economic status and (segregation in) peer and parental networks in primary school. Social Networks, 74, 127-138.

Batruch, A., Geven, S., Kessenich, E., van de Werfhorst, H.G. (2023). Are tracking recommendations biased? A review of teachers’ role in the creation of inequalities in tracking decisions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 123, 103985. [first and second author contributed equally to the manuscript]

Geven, S. & Spörlein, C. (2022). Who benefits from school-to-work linkages in the labor market? A comparison between natives, foreign- and domestically-educated migrants. European Sociological Review. Online first [both authors contributed equally to the manuscript]

Van de Werfhorst, H.G., Kessenich, E., & Geven, S. (2022). The Digital Divide in Online Education. Inequality in Digital Preparedness of Students and Schools before the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Computers and Education Open, 3, 100100.

Zwier, D., & Geven, S., Bol, T., & van de Werfhorst, H.G. (2022). Let’s Stick Together: Peer Effects in Secondary School Choice and Variations by Student Socio-Economic Background. European Sociological Review. Online first.

S. Geven, & Forster, A.G. (2021). The adaptation of educational expectations in response to ability tracking: variations by migration background. British Journal of Sociology. Online first.

S. Geven, Wiborg, O., Fish, R., van de Werfhorst, H.G. (2021). How teachers form future expectations for students: a comparative factorial survey experiment in New York, Amsterdam and Oslo. Social Science Research. Online first.

D. Zwier, Geven, S., & Van de Werfhorst, H. (2021). Social inequality in shadow education: the role of high-stakes testing. International Journal of Comparative Sociology. Online first.

S. Geven & Van de Werfhorst, H.G. (2020). The role of intergenerational networks in students’ school performance in two differentiated educational systems: a comparison of between- and within-individual estimates. Sociology of Education., 93 (1), 40-64

S. Geven (2019). The Impact of School Tracking on School Misconduct: Variations by Migration Background in England, The Netherlands, and Sweden. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 45 (15), 2864-2887

S. Geven, J. O. Jonsson & F. Van Tubergen (2017). Gender Differences in Resistance to Schooling: The Role of Dynamic Peer-Influence and Selection Processes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46 (12), 2421-2445 

S. Geven, M. Kalmijn & F. Van Tubergen (2016). The ethnic composition of schools and students' problem behaviour in four European countries: the role of friends. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 42 (9), 1473-1495

S. Geven, J. Weesie & F. Van Tubergen (2013). The influence of friends on adolescents' behavior problems at school: The role of ego, alter and dyadic characteristics. Social Networks, 35 (4), 583-592

Book chapters

Bol, T. & Geven, S. (2022). We maken een kringetje – Kansenongelijkheid in de Nederlandse onderwijssociologie. In J. van den Berg, R. Bosman, M. Ham en G. Engbersen (Ed.) Raadselen van de Sociologie: Honderd jaar academische sociologie in Nederland. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij van Gennep.

Gaikhorst, L., Geven, S., Baan, J. (2019). Diverse leerlingen, diverse competenties, diverse verwachtingen? De rol van basisschoolleerkrachten in het creëren van kansengelijkheid. In H. van de Werfhorst & E. van Hest (Ed.) Gelijke kansen in de stad (pp. 36-54). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. http://oapen.org/search?identifier=1004972

Non-refereed academic publications / popular academic publications

S. Geven (2020). Intergenerationale netwerken en de schoolprestaties van leerlingen in Nederland en Duitsland. Mens & Maatschappij, 95 (2), pp. 158-162(5)

S. Geven (2020). Afblazen basisischool-eindtoets leidt tot verwarring en mogelijk ongelijke kansen. Sociale Vraagstukken. 
* This article also appeared in 'Schoolmanagement', june 2020

S. Geven, Batruch, A. & van de Werfhorst, H. (2018). Inequality in Teacher Judgements, Expectations and Track Recommendations: A Review Study. Amsterdam: Universiteit van Amsterdam. https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/blg-864911

S. Geven (2017). De etnische samenstelling van scholen en het schoolspecifieke probleemgedrag van leerlingen in vier Europese landen: de rol van vrienden. Mens & Maatschappij, 92 (3), 314-316.

Doctoral thesis

S. Geven. Adolescent problem behavior in school: the role of peer networks. Utrecht University (281 pag.). Supervisor(s): F. Tubergen & J. Weesie.

In 2018 I received an NWO-VENI grant for the project "What do you expect? Studying teacher expectations through an institutional lens."

Teacher expectations and track recommendations for similarly achieving children are higher when they come from more affluent families. What is the role of the national and school context on the formation of these expectations? Using vignette experiments and observational data, this project provides insights on how to tackle educational inequality.