News from Sociology of Migration and Education - Dr. Frerk Blome contributes to a recent KURT article

The article highlights the reality of life for students from non-academic backgrounds — those students from families without a history of higher education — and shows that the challenges they face go beyond financial hurdles or a lack of role models. The focus is on the tension between their families of origin and the academic world: Many first-generation students experience insecurity, a lack of direction, and a sense of alienation, both in their studies and within their own social circles.

Dr. Frerk Blome from Sociology of Migration and Education examines this phenomenon in his research and his currently ongoing research project BiFam. He demonstrates that educational mobility is often associated with new social distances: Students navigate between two worlds and must reconcile expectations from their families and the university. Although this pattern is frequently described in research, Blome notes that the families’ perspective has been given too little consideration thus far. At the same time, he emphasizes that those who achieve educational mobility develop special skills through their experiences, such as the ability to navigate different social contexts and communicate with diverse people. Link to the article