Naïve or Persistent Optimism? The Changing Vocational Aspirations of Children of Immigrants at the Transition from School to Work

Sara Möser

doi:10.2478/sjs-2022-0015

Abstract

Children of immigrants are found to have higher aspirations than their native peers, despite lower educational outcomes and poor labour market opportunities. Analysing the development of aspirations shows that students with a migration background not only aim high while still in compulsory education, but also stay optimistic. This persistent optimism indicates that the high aspirations are not the result of a naïve misconception of labour market opportunities, but that the children of immigrants are inherently more ambitious than their native peers.

References

Auer, Daniel, Giuliano Bonoli, and Flavia Fossati. 2017. Why Do Immigrants Have Longer Periods of Unemployment? Swiss Evidence. International Migration 55(1): 157–174. doi: 10.1111/imig.12309.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Basler, Ariane and Irene Kriesi. 2019. Adolescents’ Development of Occupational Aspirations in a Tracked and Vocation-Oriented Educational System. Journal of Vocational Behavior 115: 103330. doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103330.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Beal, Sarah J., and Lisa J. Crockett. 2010. Adolescents’ Occupational and Educational Aspirations and Expectations: Links to High School Activities and Adult Educational Attainment. Developmental Psychology 46(1): 258–265. doi: 10.1037/a0017416.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Beck, Michael, Franziska Jäpel, and Rolf Becker. 2010. Determinanten des Bildungserfolgs von Migranten. Pp. 313–337 in Bildungsverlierer: Neue Ungleichheiten, edited by Gudrun Quenzel and Klaus Hurrelmann. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. ISBN: 978-3-531-92576-9. doi:10.1007/978-3-531-92576-9_15.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Becker, Birgit, and Cornelia Gresch. 2016. Bildungsaspirationen in Familien mit Migrationshintergrund. Pp. 73–115 in Ethnische Ungleichheiten im Bildungsverlauf: Mechanismen, Befunde, Debatten, edited by Claudia Diehl, Christian Hunkler, and Cornelia Kristen. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-04322-3_3.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Becker, Rolf, David Glauser, and Sara Möser. 2020. Determinants of Educational Choice and Vocational Training Opportunities in Switzerland – Empirical Analyses with Longitudinal Data from the DAB Panel Study. Pp. 125–143 in Against the Odds – (In)Equity in Education and Educational Systems. Dortmunder Symposium der Empirischen Bildungsforschung (Vol. 5), edited by Nele McElvany, Heinz Günter Holtappels, Fani Lauermann, Aileen Edele, and Annika Ohle-Peters. Münster: Waxmann.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bollen, Kenneth A. 2006. Latent Curve Models: A Structural Equation Perspective. Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/0471746096
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Boudon, Raymond 1974. Education, Opportunity, and Social Inequality: Changing Prospects in Western Society. New York: Wiley.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wiley Breen, Richard and John Harry Goldthorpe. 1997. Explaining Educational Differentials: Towards a Formal Rational Action Theory. Rationality and Society 9(3): 275–305.10.1177/104346397009003002
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Buchmann, Marlis, and Stefan Sacchi. 1998. The Transition from School to Work in Switzerland: Do Characteristics of the Educational System and Class Barriers Matter? Pp. 407–442 in From School to Work: A Comparative Study of Educational Qualifications and Occupational Destinations, edited by Yossi Shavit and Walter Müller. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Christoph, Bernhard. 2005. Zur Messung des Berufsprestiges: Aktualisierung der Magnitude-Prestigeskala auf die Berufsklassifikation ISCO88. ZUMA Nachrichten 29(57): 79–127.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Christoph, Bernhard, Britta Matthes, and Christian Ebner. 2020. Occupation-Based Measures – An Overview and Discussion. KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 72: 41–78. doi:10.1007/s11577-020-00673-4.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Clark, Burton R. 1960. The “Cooling-Out” Function in Higher Education. American Journal of Sociology 65(6): 569–576. doi:10.1086/222787.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Cooper, Michelle A. 2006. Dreams Deferred? Exploring the Relationship Between Early and Later Post-secondary Educational Aspirations among Racial/Ethnic Groups. PhD Dissertation, Department of Education Policy and Leadership, University of Maryland.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Diggle, Peter, and Michael G. Kenward. 1994. Informative Drop-Out in Longitudinal Data Analysis. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series C (Applied Statistics) 43(1): 49–93. doi:10.2307/2986113.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Eberhard, Verena, Stephanie Matthes, and Joachim Gerd Ulrich. 2015. The Need for Social Approval and the Choice of Gender-Typed Occupations. Pp. 205–235 in Gender Segregation in Vocational Education (Comparative Social Research, Vol. 31). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0195-631020150000031008.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Ebner, Christian, and Marc Helbling. 2015. Social Distance and Wage Inequalities for Immigrants in Switzerland. Work, Employment and Society 30(3): 436–454. doi:10.1177/0950017015594096.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Efionayi-Mäder, Denise. 2019. Von Fremdarbeitern und Vorzeigemigrantinnen – Hinweise auf die Migrationsgeschichte der Schweiz. Pp. 19–51 in Migration und Berufsbildung in der Schweiz, edited by Sonja Engelage. Zürich: Seismo Verlag.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Enders, Craig K. 2010. Applied Missing Data Analysis. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN: 1-60623-639-3.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Engzell, Per. 2019. Aspiration Squeeze: The Struggle of Children to Positively Selected Immigrants. Sociology of Education 92(1): 83–103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040718822573.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Engzell, Per, and Mathieu Ichou. 2020. Status Loss: The Burden of Positively Selected Immigrants. International Migration Review 54(2): 471–495. https://doi.org/10.1177/0197918319850756.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Federal Statistical Office. 2020. Population by Migration Status. https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/migration-integration/by-migration-status.html (25.03.2021).
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Fernández-Reino, Mariña. 2016. Immigrant Optimism or Anticipated Discrimination? Explaining the First Educational Transition of Ethnic Minorities in England. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 46: 141–156. doi:10.1016/j.rssm.2016.08.007.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Ganzeboom, Harry B.G. 2010. A New International Socio-Economic Index (ISEI) of Occupational Status for the International Standard Classification of Occupation 2008 (ISCO-08) Constructed with Data from the ISSP 2002–2007. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of International Social Survey Programme. Lisbon, May 1, 2010.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Ganzeboom, Harry B.G., Paul M. De Graaf, and Donald J. Treiman. 1992. A Standard International Socioeconomic Index of Occupational Status. Social Science Research 21(1): 1–56. doi:10.1016/0049-089X(92)90017-B.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Gao, Yannan, and Jacquelynne Eccles. 2020. Who Lower their Aspirations? The Development and Protective Factors of College-Associated Career Aspirations in Adolescence. Journal of Vocational Behavior 116, 103367. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103367.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Glauser, David. 2015. Berufsausbildung oder Allgemeinbildung. Soziale Ungleichheiten beim Übergang in die Sekundarstufe II in der Schweiz. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-09096-8.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Glauser, David. 2018. Same Same but Different. Migrationsspezifische Ungleichheiten beim Übergang in Ausbildungen der Sekundarstufe II in der Deutschschweiz. Pp. 158–189 in Migration und Berufsbildung in der Schweiz, edited by Sonja Engelade. Zürich: Seismo Verlag.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Glauser, David, and Rolf Becker. 2016. VET or General Education? Effects of Regional Opportunity Structures on Educational Attainment in German-Speaking Switzerland. Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training 8(8): 1–25. doi:10.1186/s40461-016-0033-0.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Gottfredson, Linda S. 1981. Circumscription and Compromise: A Developmental Theory of Occupational Aspirations. Journal of Counseling Psychology 28(6): 545–579. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.28.6.545.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Gottfredson, Lisa S. 2002. Gottfredson’s Theory of Circumscription, Compromise, and Self-Creation. Pp. 85–148 in Career Choice and Development, edited by Duane Brown. San Francisco: CA: Jossey-Bass.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Haller, Archibald O. 1968. On the Concept of Aspiration. Rural Sociology 33(4): 484–487.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Haller, Archibald O., Luther B. Otto, Robert F. Meier, and George W. Ohlendorf. 1974. Level of Occupational Aspiration: An Empirical Analysis. American Sociological Review 39(1): 113–121.10.2307/2094280
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Heath, Anthony, Catherine Rothon, and Elina Kilpi. 2008. The Second Generation in Western Europe: Education, Unemployment, and Occupational Attainment. Annual Review of Sociology 34(1): 211–235. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.34.040507.134728.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Heath, Anthony, and Yaël Brinbaum. 2007. Explaining Ethnic Inequalities in Educational Attainment. Ethnicities 7(3): 291–304. doi:10.1177/1468796807080230.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Heckhausen, Jutta, and Jacob Shane. 2015. Social Mobility in the Transition to Adulthood: Educational Systems, Career Entry, and Individual Agency. Pp. 535–553 in The Oxford Handbook of Human Development and Culture: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, edited by Lene A. Jensen. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0-19-994855-0.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Heckhausen, Jutta and Martin J. Tomasik. 2002. Get an Apprenticeship before School Is Out: How German Adolescents Adjust Vocational Aspirations When Getting Close to a Developmental Deadline. Journal of Vocational Behavior 60(2): 199–219. doi:10.1006/jvbe.2001.1864.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hegna, Kristinn. 2014. Changing Educational Aspirations in the Choice of and Transition to Post-Compulsory Schooling – a Three-Wave Longitudinal Study of Oslo Youth. Journal of Youth Studies 17(5): 592–613. doi:10.1080/13676261.2013.853870.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hirschi, Andreas. 2010. Individual Predictors of Adolescents’ Vocational Interest Stabilities. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance 10(1): 5–19. doi:10.1007/s10775009-9171-2.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hupka-Brunner, Sandra, Stefan Sacchi, and Barbara Stalder. 2010. Social Origin and Access to Upper Secondary Education in Switzerland: A Comparison of Company-Based Apprenticeship and Exclusively School-Based Programmes. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Soziologie 36(1): 11–31. doi:10.5167/uzh-43185.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Ichou, Mathieu. 2014. Who They Were There: Immigrants’ Educational Selectivity and Their Children’s Educational Attainment. European Sociological Review 30(6): 750–765. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcu071.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Imdorf, Christian. 2011. Wie Ausbildungsbetriebe soziale Ungleichheit reproduzieren: Der Ausschluss von Migrantenjugendlichen bei der Lehrlingsselektion. Pp. 261–276 in Bildungsungleichheit revisited: Bildung und soziale Ungleichheit vom Kindergarten bis zur Hochschule, edited by Heinz-Hermann Krüger, Ursula Rabe-Kleberg, Rolf-Torsten Kramer, and Jürgen Budde. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. doi:10.1007/978-3-531-93403-7_14.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Imdorf, Christian. 2014. Die Bedeutung von Schulqualifikationen, nationaler Herkunft und Geschlecht beim Übergang von der Schule in die betriebliche Berufsausbildung. Pp. 41–62 in Selektion in Schule und Arbeitsmarkt, edited by Markus P. Neuenschwander. Zürich/Chur: Rüegger.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jonsson, Jan O., and Frida Rudolphi. 2011. Weak Performance—Strong Determination: School Achievement and Educational Choice among Children of Immigrants in Sweden. European Sociological Review 27(4): 487–508. doi:10.1093/esr/jcq021.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Junk, Kate E., and Patrick Ian Armstrong. 2010. Stability of Career Aspirations: A Longitudinal Test of Gottfredson’s Theory. Journal of Career Development 37(3): 579–598. doi:10.1177/0894845309350921.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kalter, Frank, and Nadia Granato. 2018. Migration und ethnische Ungleichheit auf dem Arbeitsmarkt. Pp. 355–387 in Arbeitsmarktsoziologie: Probleme, Theorien, empirische Befunde, edited by Martin Abraham and Thomas Hinz. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.10.1007/978-3-658-02256-3_10
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kao, Grace and Marta Tienda. 1998. Educational Aspirations of Minority Youth. American Journal of Education 106(3): 349–384.10.1086/444188
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kogan, Irena. 2007. Working Through Barriers. Chapter 2. Explaining Immigrant Labour Market Inequality. Dordrecht: Springer. ISBN: 978-1-4020-5231-6. doi:10.1007/1-4020-5232-4.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kriesi, Irene, Marlis Buchmann, and Stefan Sacchi. 2010. Variation in Job Opportunities for Men and Women in the Swiss Labor Market 1962–1989. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 28(3): 309–323. doi:10.1016/j.rssm.2010.03.002.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Lee, In Heok, and Jay W. Rojewski. 2009. Development of Occupational Aspiration Prestige: A Piecewise Latent Growth Model of Selected Influences. Journal of Vocational Behavior 75(1): 82–90. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2009.03.006.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Lewin, Kurt. 1939. Field Theory and Experiment in Social Psychology: Concepts and Methods. American Journal of Sociology 44(6): 868–896.10.1086/218177
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Liebig, Thomas, Sebastian Kohls, and Karolin Krause. 2012. The Labour Market Integration of Immigrants and Their Children in Switzerland. OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers No. 128. OECD Publishing. doi:10.1787/5k9fjjs1m2d2-en.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Low, K. S. Douglas, Mijung Yoon, Brent W. Roberts, and James Rounds. 2005. The Stability of Vocational Interests from Early Adolescence to Middle Adulthood: A Quantitative Review of Longitudinal Studies. Psychological Bulletin 131(5): 713–737. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.5.713.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Luthra, Renee R. 2013. Explaining Ethnic Inequality in the German Labor Market: Labor Market Institutions, Context of Reception, and Boundaries. European Sociological Review 29(5): 1095–1107. doi:10.1093/esr/jcs081.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Mau, Wei-Cheng, and Lynette Heim Bikos. 2000. Educational and Vocational Aspirations of Minority and Female Students: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of Counseling and Development 78(2): 186–194.10.1002/j.1556-6676.2000.tb02577.x
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Meier, Urs. 2003. Handbuch zur Berufsdatenbank. Statistik der Schweiz. Neuchâtel: Federal Statistical Office.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Meyer, Thomas. 2003. Jugendliche mit Migrationshintergrund. Pp. 111–118 in Wege in die nachobligatorische Ausbildung. Die ersten zwei Jahre nach Austritt aus der obligatorischen Schule (Zwischenergebnisse des Jugendlängsschnitts TREE), edited by Bundesamt für Statistik. Neuchâtel: BFS.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Miyamoto, Ai, Julian Seuring, and Cornelia Kristen. 2020. Migrant Students’ Achievements in Light of their Educational Aspirations and Academic Motivation. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 46(7):1348–1370. doi:10.1080/1369183X.2018.1538772.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Miyamoto, Ai, and Alexandra Wicht. 2020. Developmental Trajectories of the Socioeconomic Status of Occupational Aspirations during Adolescence. Journal of Adolescence 84: 26–35. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.08.001.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Panichella, Nazareno. 2018. The Class Attainment and the Career Mobility of Southern Italians in Northern Italy and in West Germany. A Comparison between Internal and International Migrants. Advances in Life Course Research 35: 11–23. doi:10.1016/j.alcr.2017.12.001.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Relikowski, Ilona, Erbil Yilmaz, and Hans-Peter Blossfeld. 2012. Wie lassen sich die hohen Bildungsaspirationen von Migranten erklären? Pp. 111–136 in Soziologische Bildungsforschung, edited by Rolf Becker and Heike Solga. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. isbn: 978-3-658-00120-9. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-00120-9_5.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rojewski, Jay W. and Baiyin Yang. 1997. Longitudinal Analysis of Select Influences on Adolescents’ Occupational Aspirations. Journal of Vocational Behavior 51(3): 375–410. doi:10.1006/jvbe.1996.1561.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Salikutluk, Zerrin. 2016. Why Do Immigrant Students Aim High? Explaining the Aspiration–Achievement Paradox of Immigrants in Germany. European Sociological Review 32(5): 581–592. doi:10.1093/esr/jcw004.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Sewell, William H., Archibald O. Haller, and Alejandro Portes. 1969. The Educational and Early Occupational Attainment Process. American Sociological Review 34(1): 82–92. doi:10.2307/2092789.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Shapka, Jennifer D., José F. Domene, and Daniel P. Keating. 2006. Trajectories of Career Aspirations through Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Early Math Achievement as a Critical Filter. Educational Research and Evaluation 12(4): 347–358. doi:10.1080/13803610600765752.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Spörlein, Christoph, Cornelia Kristen, Regine Schmidt, and Jörg Welker. 2020. Selectivity Profiles of Recently Arrived Refugees and Labour Migrants in Germany. SozW Soziale Welt 71(1–2): 45–89. Doi: 10.5771/0038-6073-2020-1-2-54.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Teney, Celine, Perrine Devleeshouwer, and Laurie Hanquinet. 2013. Educational Aspirations among Ethnic Minority Youth in Brussels: Does the Perception of Ethnic Discrimination in the Labour Market Matter? A Mixed-Method Approach. Ethnicities 13(5): 584–606. doi:10.1177/1468796812472009.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Tjaden, Jasper Dag, and Katja Scharenberg. 2016. Ethnic Choice Effects at the Transition into Upper-Secondary Education in Switzerland. Acta Sociologica 60(4): 309–324. doi:10.1177/0001699316679491.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Tjaden, Jasper Dag, and Christian Hunkler. 2017. The Optimism Trap: Migrants’ Educational Choices in Stratified Education Systems. Social Science Research 67: 213–228. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.04.004.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Tomasik, Martin J., Sam Hardy, Claudia M. Haase, and Jutta Heckhausen. 2009. Adaptive Adjustment of Vocational Aspirations among German Youths during the Transition from School to Work. Journal of Vocational Behavior 74(1): 38–46. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2008.10.003.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Vidal-Coso, Elena. 2019. Employment Trajectories of Recent Immigrants in Switzerland. Pp. 123–159 in Migrants and Expats: The Swiss Migration and Mobility Nexus, edited by Ilka Steiner and Philippe Wanner. Cham: Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-05671-1_6.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Vidal-Coso, Elena, and Enrique Ortega-Rivera. 2017. Skill Composition and Occupational Incorporation of Early and Recent Immigrants in Switzerland: The Case of Italians and Spaniards. International Migration 55(S1): 86–111. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12320.10.1111/imig.12320
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Voorpostel, Marieke. 2010. Attrition Patterns in the Swiss Household Panel by Demographic Characteristics and Social Involvement. Swiss Journal of Sociology 36(2): 359–377.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wanner, Philippe, Denise Efionayi, and Rosita Fibbi. 2009. Switzerland. Pp. 151–166 in Statistics and Reality: Concepts and Measurements of Migration in Europe, edited by Heinz Fassmann, Ursula Reeger and Wiebke Sievers. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wegener, Bernd. 1985. Gibt es Sozialprestige? Zeitschrift für Soziologie 14(3): 209–235.10.1515/zfsoz-1985-0303
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Weins, Cornelia. 2010. Skills or Certificates? The Devaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials in the Swiss Labor Market. Zeitschrift für Soziologie 39(2): 124–139. doi:10.1515/zfsoz-2010-0203.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wicht, Alexandra. 2016. Occupational Aspirations and Ethnic School Segregation: Social Contagion Effects among Native German and Immigrant Youths. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 42(11): 1825–1845. doi:10.1080/1369183X.2016.1149455.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wicht, Alexandra, and Wolfgang Ludwig-Mayerhofer. 2014. The Impact of Neighborhoods and Schools on Young People’s Occupational Aspirations. Journal of Vocational Behavior 85(3): 298–308. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2014.08.006.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Zinn, Sabine, and Timo Gnambs. 2018. Modeling Competence Development in the Presence of Selection Bias. Behavior Research Methods 50(6): 2426–2441. doi:10.3758/s13428-018-1021-z.
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article

Naïve or Persistent Optimism? The Changing Vocational Aspirations of Children of Immigrants at the Transition from School to Work

Abstract

Paradigm

My account