The lecture “Migration, the great equalizer? Comparing the educational mobility of the children of migrants and the children of stayers” will be delivered by Dr Alessandro Ferrara from WZB Berlin Social Science Center and the Einstein Center Population Diversity.
When: 23.11.2026, 12:30-14:00
Where: Pleinlaan 5, 4th floor Room 5.4.21
This event will be held in person. Everyone is welcome to bring their lunch along.
About the topic:
Migrants move to improve their living conditions and those of their descendants, often by exploiting educational opportunities abroad. Whether their children benefit from the move is an open empirical question with broader consequences for global inequality. This talk argues that migration can function as an equalizing force allowing individuals to escape place-based disadvantage and alter the life chances set by their birth country, gender and social origin. The analysis takes a dissimilation-from-origins approach comparing the educational attainment of the children of migrants to that of origin-country stayers, who offer the best counterfactual for what would have happened absent the move. It draws on a unique dataset linking the children of migrants in Europe to comparable counterparts in 98 origin countries. The children of migrants attain more education than origin-country stayers, net of migrant selectivity. Gains concentrate among those of lower social origin, women, the children of migrants from non-EU countries with lower educational opportunities, gender equality and social mobility. Gains shrink when attainment is measured as the position within the residence country educational distribution, suggesting longer-term gains may be reduced. Together, the results support the notion of migration as an equalizing force through changes in context.
About the speaker:
Alessandro Ferrara is a research fellow at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and the Einstein Center Population Diversity. He holds a PhD in Social and Political Sciences from the European University Institute in Florence. His research examines social stratification and migration, with a particular focus on immigrant selectivity and how it shapes migrant outcomes in destination countries - which is the subject of his recently awarded NWO Veni grant. His work has appeared in journals such as the European Sociological Review, Population and Development Review, and Social Forces.
Webpage: https://sites.google.com/view/alessandroferrara
