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By comparing the educational situation of second-generation Turks in the Netherlands and Austria, the paper investigates the reasons behind the differential higher educational gains of the descendants of guest workers in the two countries. By relying on in-depth interviews with second-generation Turks, the paper illustrates how ethnic discrimination in the labour market lead to maintaining a ‘sojourn-perspective’ among Turks in the Austrian setting, who disapprove of long-term educational investments in favour of material resources enabling a potential return to Turkey. At the same time, the sojourn-orientation is giving way to a more long-term perspective in the case of the Netherlands, where Turkish families see investments in Dutch qualifications as worthwhile channels of upward mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]