Assimilation over the Life Course? The Career Mobility of Second-Generation Turkish Men in Germany

Abstract

Studies of second-generation migrant assimilation have thus far focused on intergenerational mobility. However, career-mobility processes can also contribute to ethnic assimilation over the course of migrants' careers. This study analyzes second-generation Turkish men's labor-market and income mobility over the course of their early careers relative to those of autochthonous Germans. The results indicate that second-generation Turkish men experience higher unemployment, lower re-employment, and higher income-mobility risks at the beginning of their careers, all of which is largely caused by their lower host country-specific human capital. Over the course of their early careers, their employment and re-employment opportunities become more similar to those of native-born German men, while their higher upward and downward income mobility risks persist. The cumulative effects of initial disadvantages have negative effects on the development of second-generation Turkish men's unemployment risks over the course of their early careers.