Heritage Matters : A Study of Social Mobility Patterns Among First and Second-Generation Immigrants in Europe

Sammanfattning: This thesis examined how the association between immigrants’ occupational origin and destination varies in 33 European countries, depending on the opportunities for social mobility in the origin country. For absolute occupational mobility, the result from an LPM regression showed that first-generation female immigrants had an increased probability of upward mobility when the origin country offered more opportunities for social mobility. In contrast, first-generation male immigrants showed an increased probability of immobility when the origin country offered more opportunities for social mobility. For relative occupational mobility, a multivariate OLS regression showed that first-generation male immigrants from countries with more opportunities for social mobility were more immobile compared to origin countries with fewer opportunities. Based on the World Economic Forum’s Global Social Mobility Index, a variable representing the opportunities for social mobility in the origin country was created. The study used four waves of the European Social Survey and the International Socio-Economic Index (ISEI) to measure the mobility patterns in absolute and relative rates over the scores of opportunities for social mobility in the origin country. Second-generation immigrants showed no significant results, and no gender differences could be established. The results were discussed in relation to first-generation immigrants’ Status Loss.