Why do parents choose independent Catholic schools? A qualitative study of high school choice in Winnipeg, Canada

Abstract

Although they educate a sizeable minority of the province’s students, there has been little research done on Catholic schools in Manitoba. This thesis begins to fill a void in one area of that research: parental school choice of Winnipeg’s Catholic high schools. Beginning with a broad overview of Catholic school choice and reviewing literature from Canada, Australia, and the United States, this thesis explores which parents choose Winnipeg’s Catholic high schools and what reasons they have for doing so. It draws on three interrelated social theories—social identity, secular goods, and vicarious religion— for its theoretical base, alongside Bourdieu’s theory of habitus. Semi-structured interviews with 13 parents were conducted between November 2019 and March 2020. Findings from these interviews indicated that religious and academic reasons were parents’ primary selection criteria. Parental education and generational effects also correlated with parental choice of Winnipeg’s Catholic schools. Further research should be done on the motivations of non-Christian parents in selecting these schools, as well as parents who considered Catholic schools but opted for alternatives.