What many suspected has now been scientifically proven: „Origin beats performance” – this is how the University of Siegen summarizes the results of a study. Views in companies about people with a migrant background lead to discrimination when looking for a training place.
Between 2022 and 2025, a research group at the University of Siegen sent more than 50,000 fictitious email inquiries from young people about to graduate from secondary school. The researchers also asked 772 companies about their experiences with migrant applicants.
Companies fear greater effort
The study shows that an applicant named „Lukas Becker” receives a response to his application to a medium-sized company in two out of three cases. The situation is completely different when the applicants are named „Yusuf Kaya” or „Habiba Mahmoud.” They receive far fewer responses, regardless of how good their grades are. The companies feared language barriers, cultural distance, lack of residence permits, and more effort in dealing with authorities and additional bureaucracy when hiring people with a migration background. The research group reported this in a press release.
Only 36 responses to Arab student
If the applicants had a German-sounding name, they received an average of 67 responses out of 100 applications. For applicants with supposedly Russian, Hebrew, and Turkish names, the figures were 56, 54, and 52 responses. In last place was „Habiba Mahmoud.” The fictional secondary school student with an Arabic-sounding name received only 36 responses. The study shows „how difficult it is for certain groups of people to even gain access to the training market,” according to the researchers.
„The results are a disaster.”
„For disadvantaged applicants, the results are a disaster,” said economist Dilara Wiemann, who participated in the study. Even significantly better grades or social engagement did not change the fact that origin trumps performance. „We cannot afford to waste potential,” said Prof. Ekkehard Köhler, commenting on the study’s findings. This is particularly problematic in skilled trades, which are suffering from a shortage of young talent. Migrant applicants had particularly poor chances in small businesses and rural areas.
The link to the study and further information: Uni Siegen | Herkunft schlägt Leistung
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