Sociology 339S Immigration and Employment Session 8 Second Generation: Educational Attainment March

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Sociology 339SImmigration and
EmploymentSession 8Second Generation
Educational AttainmentMarch 6, 2006

• Jeffrey G. Reitz
• Department of Sociology
• Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies
• Munk Centre for International Studies
• University of Toronto

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Todays Agenda

• Definitions
• Questions and theories about the second
  generation
• Findings
• Children of European immigrants
• Children of non-European immigrants
• Demography
• U.S. second generation
• Canadian second generation
• Implications and issues

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Definitions

• Usual official definition
• First generation foreign-born
• Second generation native-born children of
  foreign-born parents
• Third and higher generation native-born children
  of native-born parents
• Ambiguities
• Parental complexities second generation includes
  those with one native-born parent, as well as
  those with both parents foreign-born
• Age-of-arrival complexities
• Childhood immigrants, or 1.5 generation
  foreign-born arrived at an early age (usually 5
  or less sometimes 12 or less)

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Questions and Theoriesabout the Second Generation

• Harbinger of future?
• Reflects integration of minorities without
  immigrant entry effect
• Key group in studies of discrimination
• Influence of immigrant parents?
• Children as immigrants success criterion? Or
  Second generation rebellion?
• U.S. concern segmented assimilation?
• Which segment of society as end-point of
  integration majority or minority?
• Canadian concern racism in the schools?

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Determinants of integration for the immigrant
second generation
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Research FindingsChildren of European immigrants

• Rapid cultural assimilation
• Educational parity with native-born for most
  groups
• Retention of identity through community
  participation, heritage language instruction, etc.

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Research FindingsChildren of non-European
immigrants

• Demography
• Immigrants arrive since 1970
• Only 25 native-born, 2/3 of these under age 16,
  Most adults under 40
• Consider in context of change
• For most second generation, immigrant parents
  arrived in 70s and 80s
• Children of todays immigrants may have different
  experience
• Implications for harbinger of future argument?
• Research issues
• Small samples in representative surveys
• Available in 2000 Canadian census, U.S. Current
  Population Survey
• Fudge for earlier Canadian censuses, U.S. censuses

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Demography of non-European Second Generation
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Findings on Children of non-European immigrants
United States

• Mexicans low educational attainment (Portes and
  Rumbaut)
• Low education of parents
• Adverse situation of group
• Segmented assimilation? (Kasinitz, Mollenkopf
  Waters 2004)
• Many new black minorities do not identify with
  native-born blacks
• Educational success for most groups (Farley and
  Alba 2002)

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Findings on Children of non-European immigrants
Canada

• High educational attainment in most groups
  (Davies Guppy 1998)
• Comparable to immigrant parents, higher than
  Canadian norm
• Not controlled for age, urban residence
• High attainment relative to comparable mainstream
  group (Boyd 2002)
• All visible minorities together (SLID), no urban
  control
• Some variations by group, black disadvantage
  (Simmons Plaza 1998)
• Canada v. U.S. comparable outcomes by group
  (Reitz Zhang 2004)
• Despite lower occupational success
• Continued concentration in immigration cities

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Implications and Issues

• High education assimilation or separation?
• Explanation for group variations?
• Promoting inter-urban migration?
• Impact of institutional change?