Why do men with migration background more often enrol into higher education but less often start a master’s programme?

Abstract

The paper asks why men with migrant background more frequently start to study but less often enrol into a master’s programme than women with migrant background. From an intersectional life course perspective, the article discusses potential explanatory mechanisms for this phenomenon of inequality changing over the course of studies. With regard to possible selection processes and life course effects, several possible explanations are outlined and put to an empirical test based on the School Leaver Panel 2010. By means of logistic regressions, the changing interaction effect of gender and migration background can be demonstrated. However, the empirical analysis fails to provide a conclusive explanation for this phenomenon of changing inequalities; as becomes apparent, common theoretical perspectives are insufficient. No evidence can be found to support the widespread assumption that traditional gender roles are a significant factor effecting decisions on education. Merely the higher aspirations of parents with migrant background in combination with the declining impact on educational choices in the life course hint to possible explanations. As a result, the explanation of intersectional inequalities changing over the course of studies is found to be more complex than previously thought. This poses new challenges for empirical educational research.