Immigrant school leavers and the search for work

Studies of immigrant school-leavers' opportunities have focused on England and on areas with low unemployment. A study of Glasgow's Asian school-leavers at a time of recession shows that in relation to a similarly qualified native control group the Asian boys' job opportunities are markedly inferior. Whereas a good proportion of native Glaswegians have access to the `primary labour-market' through jobs with formal training and relatively good pay and promotion prospects, Asian school-leavers are relegated to the `secondary market'. Two-thirds of the Asians at work have entered employment within the immigrant economic infrastructure itself, despite their unambiguous rejection of such jobs earlier, and many have responded by seeking more education as a remedy for their problem. Explanations of Asians' poor job-chances in terms of unrealistic aspirations and inadequate job-hunting are satisfactory only in a minority of cases. Segmentation of the labour-market analogous to the racial and class divisions of America is seen as a more viable hypothesis although it is still too early to say whether Glasgow's Asians may avoid `the Negro fate' by successful business activities and professional education