Are trainees with a migration background in a worse position? : Resources, occupational aspirations and ethnic differences in the socio-economic status of the training occupation

Abstract

"There is multiple evidence that young migrants of the first and second generation face disadvantages in the school system and in access to vocational education and training (VET) in Germany. Hereinafter, this article investigates whether trainees with migration background are trained in occupations of lower socio-economic status than trainees without migration background. The analysis is based on data of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), starting cohort 4, and uses a sample of trainees in firms and fully qualifying vocational schools with at most intermediate secondary school degree. The study investigates whether disparities in the socio-economic status of the training occupation can be explained by differences in human and social capital and realistic vocational aspirations. Overall, there are no differences in the socio-economic status of the training occupation between trainees with and without migration background. Stepwise linear regression models reveal that this finding is the result of the poorer resource levels of trainees with migration background on the one hand, especially regarding their educational achievements, and their higher vocational aspirations on the other hand. Trainees with migration background, however, can still realize their realistic vocational aspirations less successfully than trainees without migration background, which may indicate that they have information deficits and misjudge options in the VET system." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Schels, B. & Schwarz, L. (2020): Sind Auszubildende mit Migrationshintergrund schlechter gestellt? Ressourcen, Berufsaspirationen und ethnische Unterschiede im sozioökonomischen Status des Ausbildungsberufs. In: Soziale Welt, Vol. 71, No. 4, p. 407-439. DOI:10.5771/0038-6073-2020-4-407