Introduction

Education is the resource responsible for shaping the lives of children and adolescents. The education system sets the course for future training prospects and professional careers, and successful completion of vocational training or a course of tertiary study gives young people the qualifications they need to take up achievement roles on the labour market. In addition to economic capital (income, real estate, etc.) and social capital (social relationships, networks), education, the resource described by Bourdieu (1983) as ‘cultural capital’, plays a crucial role when it comes to subsequent career patterns. Having a high school-leaving qualification enables adolescents to cope more easily with the transition from school to vocational training, and go on to find suitable positions on the labour market.

Education and the labour market are therefore primarily important ‘because the success or failure of integration in these areas also has a clear, profound effect on integration opportunities in other areas, and hence very much determines migrants’ overall prospects’ (Bommes 2004b: 39, own translation). Conversely, if individuals are poorly qualified, or have no qualifications at all, they are at greater risk of failing to become integrated into the labour market and may face social consequences such as long-term unemployment or dependence on welfare. This is especially the case in modern economies that are becoming less reliant on unskilled and semi-skilled labourers, and increasingly dependent on expert knowledge and highly skilled workers. There is considerable demand in Germany for highly qualified people (i.e. graduates) and trained craftspeople. Yet there are fewer jobs, for example in production, for people without a school diploma or vocational training. Such school-leavers are now at greater risk of becoming unemployed.

As many recent studies (PISA, IGLU, etc.) show, the academic success of children depends to a great extent on their parents’ level of education and social class. The higher the educational level of a child's parents, the more highly qualified the child is likely to be. It is difficult for children from ‘uneducated’ families to achieve at a level comparable to counterparts with a higher educational attainment background, even if they have a similar level of capability and performance.