the many sides of muslim integration: a german- american - aicgs

the many sides of muslim integration
background. This puts them and their families in a
much better starting position, although recent figures
show that young Muslims (up to age 29) are less
likely to have college degrees or higher when
compared to older generations of Muslims. 31
However, the opposite can be said about Muslims in
Germany who, to a large degree, belong to the disadvantaged
group of rural Turkish migrants.
Furthermore, children of immigrants still are overrepresented
in lower school types and have worse
educational opportunities, not only in comparison to
German natives but also to other immigrant groups.
Accordingly, about 42 percent of Muslims in Germany
have a low or no school diploma; 34 percent have a
higher school diploma (i.e., the “Abitur” certificate in
Germany).
Better educational achievement becomes visible in
the second and third generations attending school in
Germany. At 11.8 percent, they display a significantly
lower number of young Muslims without any diploma
compared to 28.9 percent of the generation that
finished school in their home countries. Later generations
also show an increase in students who obtain
an intermediate or extended level of education at the
Realschule (31 percent compared to 13.4 percent of
first generation immigrants). Moreover, educational
22
advancement appears among female Muslim
students who more often earn diplomas mostly from
medium school types in Germany, such as the
Hauptschule and the Realschule, than their mothers
who were educated in their respective countries of
origin.
On the other side, the proportion of Muslims with an
“Abitur” certificate, enabling them to study at a university
is still below the rate of those who finished school
in their home countries with a similar qualification for
University entrance. 32 This highlights the limits of
educational upward mobility for young Muslims, which
results in a relatively low, although steadily increasing,
number of Muslim academics. Moreover, it raises the
question of the relationship between education and
economic prospects and of the mode of integration
into the labor market.
INCOME
Figure 2: Household Income of U.S. Muslims and of Muslims in Germany
Recent empirical studies on Muslims in the U.S. and
Germany offer different figures of their household’s
financial situation and their economic opportunity,
particularly their integration into the labor market. In
the following, comparable data on income and satisfaction
with one’s personal financial situation will be
discussed.
U.S. Muslims Native-born U.S. Muslims Muslims in Germany
Less than $30,000 33 35% 35% 53%
$30,000-$74,999 39% 42% 35%
$75,000 or more 26% 23% 12%
According to a survey conducted in 2006 as part of
the Pew Global Attitudes Project, Muslims in
Germany were found to be less wealthy than the total
population: the majority of Muslims (53 percent)
reported annual incomes of less than EUR 18,000
(compared to 35 percent of the German total population
with the same income) and a relatively low
percentage of Muslims reported an annual income of
more than EUR 30,000 (12 percent vs. 26 percent of
total population). 34
This German Muslim income situation stands in sharp
contrast to Muslims’ integration in the U.S. economy,
where their family income is roughly comparable with
that of the entire U.S. population. Forty-one percent
(vs. 44 percent of the general U.S. population) of the
Muslim interviewees reported annual household
incomes of $50,000 or more; one-third report annual
household incomes of less than $30,000. 35 More
detailed figures on household income of both foreignand
native-born Muslims reveal that the household