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Migration and Higher Education in Germany

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Inequality, Innovation and Reform in Higher Education

Part of the book series: Lifelong Learning Book Series ((LLLB,volume 25))

Abstract

This chapter considers four migrant groups in German higher education, each of which has a different migration status: firstly, domestic students with a migration biography; secondly, international students; thirdly, refugees, who currently represent a small group in German higher education. The fourth group are academic staff with a migration background. The chapter gathers some empirical evidence to characterize these groups in the context of the specific policy discourses about migrants in German higher education. What the four groups share in common is that they are expected to help meet the need for highly qualified experts in different sectors of the German labour market. So, from a policy perspective, these groups are primarily considered as manpower resources. They differ in how they have been affected by the controversial public debate about migration in Germany. For all four groups, there is further potential for expanding participation. This would be in accordance with the objectives of all higher education institutions and of the German policy to internationalize German higher education. The future prospects and perspectives depend not only on the quality of German higher education and the labour market but also on whether Germany is capable of keeping its reputation as an open society and country.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Basically, the term ‘migrants’ comprises ‘immigrants’ as well as ‘emigrants’. In the context of this article the term ‘migrants’ is synonymous with ‘immigrants’ – unless both groups are mentioned explicitly.

  2. 2.

    The following data are based on Autorengruppe Bildungsbericht (2016), Brückner (2017), and Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (2016).

  3. 3.

    Official German school statistics only record nationality, not the migration background. However, migration background is recorded in nearly all survey-based studies.

  4. 4.

    There are no tuition-fees in Germany, so this aspect does not play any role for the decision to study.

  5. 5.

    Coming to Germany as a participant in a European (or an institutional) mobility or exchange programme just for a limited time (mostly one or two terms) without any intent to graduate in Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Andrä Wolter

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  1. Andrä Wolter
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Correspondence to Andrä Wolter .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Higher Education Research Centre, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Maria Slowey

  2. Department of Educational Studies, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Hans G. Schuetze

  3. Higher Education Research Centre, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Tanya Zubrzycki

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Wolter, A. (2020). Migration and Higher Education in Germany. In: Slowey, M., Schuetze, H.G., Zubrzycki, T. (eds) Inequality, Innovation and Reform in Higher Education. Lifelong Learning Book Series, vol 25. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28227-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28227-1_3

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