Abstract
Europe’s history has always been marked by migration. Large-scale immigration into Western Europe – driven by labour shortages – took place in the decades after World War II and has continued to this day, with changing patterns and at different paces. Until the oil crisis in 1973, the number of foreign workers almost doubled in countries like France and the UK, with a large inflow of manpower from the former colonies, but also in countries like Germany, Belgium or Austria, which actively recruited workers from Southern Europe, the Balkan states, etc. The offspring of this mobile generation continues to grow – and to grow up. As they have frequently adopted the nationality of their country of birth, statistics do not provide much information about this group’s access to and presence in higher education. Furthermore, research on social inequality in higher education often approaches the issue from a merely socio-economic perspective, neglecting the impact of an immigrant background. While socio-economic factors undoubtedly play a major role in social stratification and mobility, the quality of an immigrant background may matter more when it comes to the choice of subject, to mobility periods abroad, or to academic language barriers. This paper will take Germany as a case example. After examining the data on students with an immigrant background in Germany and in a few more select countries, it will showcase some methodological approaches in research on social stratification in (German) higher education. Finally, it will give some insights into the research on social reproduction in immigrant families in Germany and illustrate the potential of this research perspective at the European level.
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Notes
- 1.
The UNESCO-Institute of Statistics/OECD/EUROSTAT data collection on education statistics provides internationally comparable data on key aspects of education systems.
- 2.
Eurostudent is published by Hochschul-Informations-System (HIS) and contains aggregate level data which are provided by national researchers. It covers a wide range of demographic characteristics of the student body. See: www.eurostudent.de/ (Orr 2008).
- 3.
Wissenschaft weltoffen is a data report about facts and figures on the international nature of studies and research in Germany (see: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst 2011).
- 4.
The percentage of the sample survey deviates from the higher education statistics. The reason for this may be a particularly high rate of return from this group.
- 5.
- 6.
Note: In the Austrian survey on social and economic conditions of students (Studierenden-Sozialerhebung) an index composed of educational and professional status of parents has been in use since 1998.
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
It should be acknowledged, of course, that those stating the opposite would most likely not have been among the interviewees, i.e. they might not even have entered higher education.
- 10.
All quotes were translated from German by the paper author.
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Acknowledgment
The author would like to thank Dr. Avril Keating for her valuable comments and feedback as a respondent in the run-up to and during the “Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers Conference” (Bucharest, October 17–19, 2011).
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Schneller, C. (2012). The Offspring of a Mobile Generation: Students with an Immigrant Background in Higher Education. In: Curaj, A., Scott, P., Vlasceanu, L., Wilson, L. (eds) European Higher Education at the Crossroads. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3937-6_23
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