Refugee journeys and the erosion of pre-migration human capital: A sequence analysis approach to post-migration trajectories

More than a decade ago, refugee immigration prominently returned to Europe’s political agendas, sparking interest in the factors shaping refugees’ economic and societal participation. Adopting a life course perspective, this study addresses the conflicting views in sociology of migration on the importance of pre-migration capital for refugees’ post-migration trajectories. While some argue that human capital is accumulated over the life course and retains its value after migration, others describe forced migration as a disruptive event that may severely diminish these resources. Drawing on rich survey and administrative employment data, this article employs sequence analysis combined with cluster analysis to identify typical integration trajectories of refugee women and men in Germany. In multivariate analyses, I demonstrate that pre-migration human capital is associated with a higher likelihood to enter education and employment, underscoring the enduring relevance of resources acquired prior to migration. Straining journeys can, however, reduce available resources after arrival: for individuals reporting long and traumatizing journeys, human capital effects partly disappear. The results highlight the important role of refugee migration experiences that are often neglected in both scholarly and political discourses on integration outcomes as well as migration and integration policies. • More educated refugees are overrepresented in education-intense biographies. • They are also more likely to enter the labor market. • Long and hazardous journeys can override these advantages, however. • Women with more pre- and post-migration education are still less likely than men to start a job. • For those on the labor market, employment spells are fairly stable.