The Effect of Youth Transition and Resource Base on the Labour Market Success of Descendants of Turkish Migrants to Germany

Master's Thesis from the year 2005 in the subject Sociology - Politics, Majorities, Minorities, grade: Distinction, University of Glasgow (Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences), language: English, abstract: Based on results from previous empirical studies, which highlighted the relatively disadvantaged situation of descendents of Turkish migrants on the labour market inGermany (compared to descendents of natives and migrants from other countries of origin), this dissertation aims to gain further insights in the underlying reasons for these disadvantages. It aims to do so by first introducing a new concept - called the' Resource Base' - which is derived from elements of Bourdieu's work on cultural and social capital as well as Coleman's and Becker's notes on human capital and social capital. This concept is then used to investigate potential causes for the disadvantageous labour market positions of descendents of Turkish migrants by focusing on thei rtransitions from school to the labour market and the impact of these transitions on their individual Resource Base, as well as the impact of the Resource Base on labour market success. This investigation employs quantitative methods (logistic regression, cluster analysis and chi square tests) and a quantitative data set - the German Socio Economic Panel survey. The research also utilises graphical representation of different types of youth biographies in comparative life course charts. Results include detailed insights into the differential acquisition of relevant resources by each group (descendents of migrants from Turkey and other countries, as well as native Germans) and the negative impact of the lack of these resources on labour market success. It is further suggested that the Resource Base model can be used to identify discrimination regulations and practices, advancing the model as a useful theoretical and analytical tool that justifies further research in this area.