Page - 54 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Heinz Bonfadelli | Media Use of Ethnic Minority Youth 54 is based on cultural studies, ethnography and visual methods. The in- depth interviewing, in particular, offered insights into the relationship between media and cultural identity and thus further differentiated the findings from the quantitative investigation. This fieldwork highlights the function that media and ICT play in processes of identity formation in an inter-generational setting (see Hermann/Hanetseder 2007). 4. Results 4.1 Structural Inequalities: Parents and Children A first issue deals with structural inequalities on the basis of background data concerning the socio-economic status of the parents and the educational level of the adolescents. Our comparative data demonstrate very pronounced structural inequalities (Table 4): On the one hand, the social status of the Swiss families is higher, and on the other hand, the educational level of Swiss adolescents is significantly higher in comparison to adolescents from a migrant background. Socio-Economic Status of Family Percentages Low Medium High Swiss Youth 6 62 32 Migrants 34 40 26 Educational Level of Adolescents (Only Secondary School) Percentages Low Medium High Swiss Youth 5 44 51 Migrants 24 46 30 Table 4: Socio-Economic Status of Families and Educational Level of Adolescents But inequalities exist independent of family background: Our data demonstrate that, in general, more adolescents from a migration background have a lower educational level, whereas more Swiss adolescents have higher levels of education. This can be observed independently of the socio-economic status or the educational background of their parents. Moreover, the influence of ethnic background is especially strong among adolescents coming from ex- Yugoslavia, whereas ethnic background seems to be much weaker among adolescents coming from Italy.