Social Advancement through Education: On Intergenerational Negotiations of Upward Social Mobility Experiences in Migrant Families

• Applicant: Dr. Minna-Kristiina Ruokonen-Engler
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 445115586

International comparisons demonstrate that the opportunities for upward social mobility are very low in Germany. At the same time, however, some studies show that the children of labour migrants are much more motivated to climb the social ladder than the respective „native-born Germans“. As the upward social mobility induces a change of social status and societal position and is followed by a transformation of the habitus, it is argued that these changes lead to an alienation from the social milieu and the life world of the respective family. Other studies, however, underline the importance of the family support in migrant families. In consequence, it can be asked how to explain high educational achievements and experiences of social upward mobility in migrant families and how these experiences influence migrants’ family life. The research project explores from a biographical perspective how social upward mobility experiences are individually processed and intergenerationally negotiated in migrant families. It asks how social mobility influences intergenerational and gender relations, experiences of belonging and respective family support. The research project aims at developing a theoretical model to explain the dynamics of the intergenerational and gendered negotiations of upward social mobility. The research question about the intergenerational relations in migrant families reflects on actual debates concerning the meaning of family networks in coping with social constraints in times of employment insecurity and aging societies. The project contributes to the discussions on the influence of migration and social mobility on the transformation of family, intergenerational and gender relations. Methodologically, it adds to the further development of social mobility research from a subjective, biographical perspective that takes into account the underpinning social structural conditions.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants