- Titel
- More educated, more pro-immigration?
- Untertitel
- Understanding the conditional effect of education on support for immigration in Europe
- Zitierfähige Url:
- https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa2-1032039
- Schriftenreihe
- Policy paper
- Bandnummer
- 2025-3
- Erstveröffentlichung
- 2025
- Abstract (EN)
- Education is often seen as a key to fostering more inclusive attitudes toward immigration and building social cohesion in diverse societies. This Policy Paper challenges the idea that education alone can deliver these outcomes. Using data from 20 years of the European Social Survey (2002–2022) across 27 countries and applying multilevel modelling, it shows that the effect of education on immigration attitudes is conditional – shaped by psychological predispositions, economic insecurity, and the broader social context. Overall, higher levels of education are linked to more favourable views of immigration. However, individuals with self-transcendent values or high social trust benefit more from education’s liberalizing effect. Conversely, economic hardship tends to reduce the positive impact of education, especially among those with lower educational attainment. Even among university graduates, financial insecurity correlates with more exclusionary views – though less so than among the less educated. The findings suggest that education is a vital, but not self-sufficient, driver of democratic resilience. Policy efforts to counter polarization and strengthen civic openness should, therefore, not rely on education alone. They must also address the economic and psychological conditions that allow its full potential to take root.
- Freie Schlagwörter (EN)
- education, immigration, society, European Social Survey
- Klassifikation (DDC)
- 320
- 300
- 360
- Klassifikation (RVK)
- MS 3600
- ME 3000
- MS 1560
- MS 1170
- Verlag
- Mercator Forum Migration und Demokratie (MIDEM), Dresden
- Förder- / Projektangaben
- Stiftung Mercator
- Sonstige beteiligte Institution
- Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden
- Universität Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Essen
- Version / Begutachtungsstatus
- publizierte Version / Verlagsversion
- URN Qucosa
- urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa2-1032039
- Veröffentlichungsdatum Qucosa
- 19.03.2026
- Dokumenttyp
- Buch
- Sprache des Dokumentes
- Englisch
- Lizenz / Rechtehinweis
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0