Context Matters: The Varying Roles of Social Ties for Professional Careers of Immigrants’ Descendants

Abstract

Research on social networks of immigrants and their descendants usually starts from the distinction between ‘ethnic’ ties and ties to members of the population without migration background. In migration studies ‘ethnic’ ties are repeatedly associated with ‘strong ties’, whereas ‘weak ties’ – that are found to be essential for the access to jobs in the wider society – are associated with contacts to members of the ‘majority population’. Building on existing criticism of this narrowing dichotomy and looking at upward social mobility careers of immigrants’ descendants we question this group-related understanding of weak and strong ties. Examining professional trajectories of immigrants’ descendants in Germany, this chapter suggests shifting the focus to occupational contexts in order to understand better how and why different types of social ties can play an important role for their professional mobility. We argue that both the quality of ties and their ‘ethnic dimension’ are dependent on the occupational context with its specific institutionalized modes of access and recruitment. Moreover, different forms of ‘ethnic’ or ‘cross-ethnic’ ties develop a changing significance in the course of a career and over time; this makes it necessary to also look at the dynamics in careers and the occupational contexts. The chapter compares the role of social ties for the inclusion into two occupational fields: law and public administration. It draws on interviews with (mainly Turkish) immigrants’ descendants working in these sectors. While in the law sector mainly ‘weak ties’, which had been built up during university studies and in the course of later careers, proved important, in public administration ‘strong ties’ to relatives and friends were most crucial for the access to jobs. In both sectors, we can observe that ties to ‘co-ethnics’ become increasingly relevant for professional careers as people of immigrant descent gradually achieve higher positions.