Upward Social Mobility through Education in German-Iranians Biographies. A Psychosocial Perspective on Intergenerational Dynamics during Adolescence

Abstract

In many migrant families, educational achievements play a central role and can lead to intergenerational tensions, in particular when the parents endured a loss of social status. Therefore, many parents arriving in Western societies attribute a high value to educational attainment for their children, who are often confronted with institutional discrimination in schools. On this basis, the significance of education in migrant families and the psychosocial effects of intergenerational dynamics on individuals and their biographies, especially during adolescence, will be discussed in this paper. Two different patterns can be worked out through contrasting two biographical narratives. Education become in both cases a pressing identity issue and course-setting in adolescence: Although in the first case this leads to a reformulated orientation toward the upward mobility expectations of the parents, in the second case, educational advancement offers a way out of difficult social and economic circumstances and provides psychological stability.