“I Can Do It If I Work Hard”: Perceived Educational Opportunity in the Netherlands’ Tracked System

This study examines how students in the Netherlands perceive the formal opportunities provided by the educational system to realize their educational aspirations. Drawing on 15 focus groups with 61 students in primary and secondary education, we investigate how students interpret key features of the opportunity structure, such as mobility, selectivity, and stigma, as well as the barriers they perceive in navigating their educational trajectories. We find that students largely align their expectations with the formal structure of the Dutch system but tend to overestimate their freedom to shape their own educational pathways. While they recognize stigma attached to vocational tracks, structural barriers such as discrimination, financial concerns, or limited mobility often go unacknowledged. Instead, students attribute success primarily to individual traits such as motivation and effort, revealing a strong belief in meritocracy even within a highly selective system. This study sheds light on how opportunity structures are perceived by students themselves, offering a lens on how systemic features are internalized. These findings are relevant for other European countries with early tracking and selective educational structures, where similar dynamics may shape students’ aspirations, decision-making, and perceived agency.