Becoming Successful in the Business and Law Sectors: Institutional Structures and Individual Resources

Abstract

Recent studies have highlighted the increasing number of descendants of migrants completing higher education and accessing labour market positions in higher ranks than their parents. Yet the pathways of the descendants of migrants vary across professional sectors. This chapter focuses on the pathways and experiences of members of the Turkish second generation in the business and law sectors in Germany and France. The chapter analyses the trajectories of these young people to reach their current positions and highlights the interplay between institutional structures and the resources that respondents relied on and accumulated in the different sectors and countries. The analysis is based on data collected through qualitative interviews conducted in Germany as part of the Pathways to Success Project and in France for the ELITES Project.