Empirical studies reveal, however, that students from immigrant families have lower chances of successfully completing their education than natives and that, moreover, on average male youths in this group perform worse than females. Young Turkish males with immigration history, who also represent the largest immigration group in Germany, comprise the particularly disadvantaged group (Baumert et al. 2001; Christensen/Stanat 2007).

In our study (promoted by the DFG) we trace the development of formally successful and less successful educational careers of male adolescents from Turkish immigrant families living in large German cities by means of qualitative research methods. Further, we perform a comparative analysis of their biographies in order to examine the causes of their divergent educational developments.

The family, along with educational institutions, is a key factor explaining the degree of educational involvement and success of subsequent generations. Various studies show that educational resources and, in part, ambitions are handed down intergenerationally (Steinbach/Nauck 2004; Ditton et al. 2005). It remains unclear, however, how this intergenerational transfer takes place in particular (Becker/Lauterbach 2008).

Therefore we try to describe how, during the process of adolescent detachment, experiences in the family are dealt with and the frames of reference – which are specific to family or milieu – are handed down intergenerationally, and consequently modified. Our study is guided by the assumption that educational careers are decisively influenced by the way these young men deal with the dual challenges of adolescence and immigration (King 2005; King/Koller 2009).

Migration and the associated necessity of separation and reorganization within the immigrated family and its members create specific conditions for the processes of separation and restructuration in the adolescent descendants. Moreover, youths with immigration history experience such processes under special conditions insofar as within entities such as peer groups, school, or public life, which are becoming more important in the course of adolescence, they are usually labeled “outsiders” as opposed to the “established” (in the sense of Elias & Scotson 1965; cf. Juhasz & Mey 2003). This includes living in ethnically segregated quarters, which can be observed frequently in large German cities. If combined with social segregation, such quarters are considered to be problematic, as they are characterized by a difficult access to higher education and an often increased level of discrimination (Strohmeier 2006). The way adolescents are able to face such experiences is also largely determined by intergenerational communication processes.

Thus our research question is focused on the reciprocal effects of the following two dynamics: educational development under circumstances of immigration and adolescent detachment processes. In our lecture we would like to concentrate on presenting ways, in which dealing with discrimination and urban segregation is being communicated intergenerationally, and their influences on the course of education of the adolescents. This subject which is very important for migrants in many countries will be highlighted as under a magnifying glass by means of comparing the generations within one family of our sample.

Baumert, J. et al. (2001): PISA 2000. Basiskompetenzen von Schülerinnen und Schülern im internationalen Vergleich. Opladen – Becker, R./Lauterbach, W. (2008): Bildung als Privileg? Erklärungen und Befunde zu den Ursachen der Bildungsungleichheit. 3. Aufl. Wiesbaden. – Christensen, G./Stanat, P. (2007): Schulerfolg von Jugendlichen mit Migrationshintergrund im internationalen Vergleich. Eine Analyse von Voraussetzungen und Erträgen schulischen Lernens von PISA 2003. Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung – Ditton, H. et al. (2005): Bildungsungleichheit – der Beitrag von Familie und Schule. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft 8, 285-304 Elias, N./Scotson, J. (1965) The established and the outsiders. A sociological enquiry into community problems. London – Juhasz, A./Mey, E. (2003): Die zweite Generation: Etablierte oder Außenseiter? Wiesbaden –King, V. (2005): Adoleszenz und Migration – eine verdoppelte Migrationsanforderung. Am Beispiel des Bildungserfolgs als Thema der adoleszenten Generationenbeziehungen in Familien mit Migrationshintergrund. In: Bründl, P./Kogan, I. (eds.): Kinder jenseits von Trauma und Fremdheit. Frankfurt/M., 30-51 – King, V./Koller, H.-C. (2009) (eds.): Adoleszenz – Migration – Bildung. Beiträge zu Bildungsprozessen Jugendlicher und junger Erwachsener mit Migrationshintergrund. Wiesbaden. 2. erw. Aufl. – Oevermann, U./Allert, T./Konau, E./Krambeck, J. (1979): Die Methodologie einer »objektiven Hermeneutik« und ihre allgemeine forschungslogische Bedeutung in den Sozialwissenschaften. In: Soeffner, H.-G. (ed.): Interpretative Verfahren in den Sozial- und Textwissenschaften. Stuttgart, 352-434 – Schütze, F. (1983): Biographieforschung und narratives Interview. In: Neue Praxis 13, 283-293 – Steinbach, A./Nauck, B. (2004): Intergenerationale Transmission von kulturellem Kapital in Migrantenfamilien, Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft 7, 20-32 – Strohmeier, K. (2006): Segregation in den Städten. Bonn – Zölch, J./ King, V. /Koller, H.-C./Carnicer, J./Subow, E. (2009): Bildungsaufstieg als Migrationsprojekt. Fallstudie aus einem Forschungsprojekt zu Bildungskarrieren und adoleszenten Ablösungsprozessen bei männlichen Jugendlichen aus türkischen Migrantenfamilien. In: King/Koller 2009, 67-84.