Ethnic diversity, homophily, and network cohesion in European classrooms *

In the rapidly growing literature on the empirical effects of ethnic diversity different indicators of social cohesion have been applied. Various types of trust, civic engagement, and attitudes supportive of the welfare state are among the most frequently employed variables. More seldom, but appealingly straightforward, is an understanding of social cohesion in terms of the actual ties that might exist between the members of a community, i.e., in a stricter, network-analytical way. When, in accordance with the overarching aims of this book, in this chapter we consider the consequences of ethnic diversity, we shall highlight this narrower aspect of “network cohesion.”