“Two Schools under one Roof” in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Exploring the challenges of group identity and deliberative values among Bosniak and Croat students

•Group identity and deliberative values were explored among Bosniak and Croat youth.•Group identity for Bosniak students was strongly tied to “being Bosnian”.•Croat students struggled with balancing living in BiH and maintaining Croat roots.•The students’ relationships were complicated by discrimination and imbalance in power.•The “two schools under one roof” solution has negative implications for democracy. The purpose of this study was to explore the challenge of engaging Bosniak and Croat students in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in deliberative democracy within the context “two schools under one roof,” students receiving education in the same school building, yet attending separate classes and following distinct curricula. Findings suggest that group identity for Bosniak students was strongly tied to “being Bosnian” while Croat students expressed ambivalence and unease about their identity, balancing feelings between having their home in BiH and maintaining their Croat roots. The students’ relationships were complicated by an imbalance in perceptions of power, discriminatory attitudes, and economic resources. We argue that the continued separation of youth based on ethnicity hinders the education of future generations for democracy.