Imagined futures: why business studies dominate the higher education choices of second-generation Turks in the Netherlands

Relying on in-depth interviews with higher education students and young graduates the study investigates the factors underpinning the participation patterns of second-generation Turks in the Dutch higher education system. The paper highlights how ethnic minority students accommodate the constraints faced by the Dutch educational system by rationalizing economics at professional colleges as a suitable alternative to studying medicine at university, an alternative that will meet both their aspirations for a more successful and secure life than their parents’ while maintaining the traditional family ties in line with the work-life balance offered by a ‘nine-to-five job’.