Resources, norms, and dropout intentions of migrant students in Germany: the role of social networks and social capital

ABSTRACT

This study focuses exclusively on migrant students in German higher education and examines the relationship between their social networks, social capital, and dropout intention. We identify two different forms of social capital – resources and norms – that students derive from their networks, and are related to their educational outcomes. These two forms of social capital also correspond with the two well-established arguments for explaining immigrants’ educational outcomes: (1) immigration optimism and (2) social background disadvantages. Using data from the German National Education Panel Study, we use Lin (2001) concepts of ‘capital deficit’ and ‘return deficit’ to examine the differences in access and utilization of social capital between native and migrant students, further differentiated by whether one or both parents were born abroad. Using linear and logistic regressions we find that the networks of migrant students are characterized by high norms and aspirations, which have a shielding role for dropout. Further, students with both parents born abroad are at a higher risk of dropout than mixed background students. We specifically focus on factors that are unique to migrant students going beyond the well-established social background explanations for migration-related disadvantages.

KEYWORDS:

• Dropout/Dropout intention
• Higher education
• Migration aspiration
• Migrant students
• Resources and norms
• Social Networks and social capital

Acknowledgements

This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort First-Year Students, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC5:12.0.0. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data was collected as part of the Framework Program for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, NEPS is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The terms ‘students with migration background’ and ‘migrant students’ are used interchangeably.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany under the funding line ‘Academic success and dropout phenomena I [01PX16007]’. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the funding agency.