To analyse stratification processes in educational systems, three characteristics are traditionally referred to: stratification, standardization and vocational specificity. While stratification refers to the degree to which educational systems have clearly differentiated kinds of schools whose curricula are defined as “higher” or “lower”, standardization refers to “the degree to which quality of education meets the same standards nationwide”. In addition, educational systems vary in the extent to which they offer curricula that are designed to prepare students for particular vocations and award credentials that are vocationally specific (Allmendinger 1989a,b). A forth characteristic, that may determine an educational system’s “capacity to structure” the flow of young people out of educational institutions and into the labour market, is suggested by Kerckhoff (2001): student choices. According to the author, the clearest index of an educational system’s allowance for choice is the flexibility of the linkages between structural locations at successive stages of educational attainment.

In the context of educational expansion Arum, Gamoran and Shavit (2007) argue that market structure and institutional differentiation influence social stratification processes as well. With regard to the latter, the authors differentiate between diversified, binary and unitary higher education systems and expect enrolment rates to be highest in diversified systems – with lowest levels of educational inequality. Related to the former, they expect enrolment rates to be higher in systems with more funding from private sources.

While the criteria mentioned above have been used to explain social stratification in the educational systems that are caused by differences in the socioeconomic status attained by students’ parents, within our contribution they are applied in order to explain differences between countries in immigrant or ethnic minority youth participation in higher education. For example are students with a migrant background ceteris paribus expected to have higher participation rates in countries the educational institutions of which allow for student choices than in countries whose educational institutions are linked in a very rigid and inflexible way.

Empirical studies at the national level investigating higher education reveal significant differences between participation rates of students with and without a migrant background. For example in Sweden, although children of immigrant origin perform below average in school, they take up the more challenging track of academic upper secondary education more often than their peers. (Jonsson/Rudolphi 2010). Similarly in Germany, Turkish youths – once they are entitled to higher education and in spite of their below average performance in school – were found to be significantly more likely than German youths to enrol into higher education (Kristen et al. 2008). Eventually, in the United Kingdom ethnic minorities have higher participation rates in degree programmes than the majority population (e.g. Wakeling 2009).

To sum up, the main research question leading the analysis will be how choice, stratification, standardization, vocational specificity, institutional differentiation and market structure affect participation of people with a migrant background or ethnic minority students in higher education. Specifically, the contribution aims at analysing the effects of structure and choice on immigrant youth participation in higher education in selected European countries.

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