Journal Article

Die Verwertbarkeit ausländischer Ausbildungsabschlüsse: das Beispiel der Aussiedler auf dem deutschen Arbeitsmarkt

Konietzka, D., Kreyenfeld, M. R.
The applicability of foreign vocational credentials: the case of ethnic Germans in the German labor market
Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 30:4, 267–282 (2001)

Abstract

Since the breakdown of communism, Germany has experienced a major influx of ethnic German migrants (Aussiedler) from Eastern Europe. In this paper, we use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel of the year 1998 to analyze the integration of ethnic German migrants into the German labor market. We focus particularly on the transferability of educational credentials for the labor market integration of migrants. Although there are official procedures for ethnic German to have their educational and vocational certificates recognized, only a minority of them are working in the occupation they were actually trained for. For migrants, however, working in the occupation learned is a prerequisite for performing well in the German labor market. The problems ethnic German migrants are faced before they can utilize their vocational skills lead us to some general conclusions about dominant allocation mechanisms and further predictions about the fate of future migrant populations in the German labor market.

The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock is one of the leading demographic research centers in the world. It's part of the Max Planck Society, the internationally renowned German research society.