Do you want to stay informed about this journal? Click the buttons to subscribe to our alerts.
Aiming High, No Matter What?
Educational Aspirations of Ethnic Minority and Ethnic Majority Youth in England, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden
In: Comparative SociologyAbstract
The authors examine cross-national variation in the ethnic gradient in aspirations among 14-year-olds in England, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden by using data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries, collected in 2009/2010. Results show that most ethnic minority groups are more likely to have university aspirations than ethnic majority youth. The most consistent minority advantage is found in England and Sweden, consistent with the interpretation that the ample scope for choice in progression through these school systems allows high ambitions of minorities to play out well. However, minority advantage of some groups is also present in the Netherlands and Germany, where transitions are more heavily conditional on previous performance. The pattern for immigrant generational status varies across countries and ethnic origins. There is no consistent empirical evidence indicating that aspiration differences between ethnic minority and majority youth will diminish due to assimilation processes across the generations.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Alba, R. and Nee, V. 1997. Rethinking Assimilation Theory for a New Era of Immigration. International Migration Review 31(4): 826–874.
-
Alba, R., Sloan, J. and Sperling, J. 2011 The Integration Imperative: The Children of Low-Status Immigrants in the Schools of Wealthy Societies. Annual Review of Sociology 37: 395–415.
-
Algan, Y., Dustmann, C., Glitz, A. and Manning, A. 2010. The economic situation of first and second‐generation immigrants in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The Economic Journal 120(542): F4–F30.
-
Barnett, M.D., Sonnert, G. and Sadler, P.M. 2012. More Like Us: The Effect of Immigrant Generation on College Success in Mathematics. International Migration Review 46(4): 891–918.
-
Bohon, S.A., Johnson, M.K. and Gorman, B.K. 2006. College Aspirations and Expectations among Latino Adolescents in the United States. Social Problems 53(2): 207–225.
-
Buchmann, C. and Dalton, B. 2002. Interpersonal Influences and Educational Aspirations in 12 Countries: The Importance of Institutional Context. Sociology of Education 75(2): 99–122.
-
Buchmann, C. and Park, H. 2009. Stratification and formation of expectations in highly differentiated educational systems. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 27(4): 245–267.
-
CILS4EU. 2014. Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries. Technical Report. Wave 1 – 2010/2011, v1.1.0. Mannheim: Mannheim University.
-
CILS4EU. 2016. Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries. Technical Report. Wave 1 – 2010/2011, v1.2.0. Mannheim: Mannheim University.
-
Crul, M. and Holdaway, J. 2009. Children of Immigrants in Schools in New York and Amsterdam. The factors shaping attainment. Teachers College Records 111(6): 1476–1507.
-
Dollmann, J., Jacob, K. and Kalter, F. 2014. Examining the Diversity of Youth in Europe. A Classification of Generations and Ethnic Origins Using CILS4EU Data (Technical Report). MZES Working Papers, Nr. 156.
-
Domina, T., Conley, A.M. and Farkas, G. 2011. The Link between Educational Expectations and Effort in the College-for-all Era. Sociology of Education 84(2): 93–112.
-
Downey, D.B., Ainsworth, J.W. and Qian, Z. 2009. Rethinking the Attitude-Achievement Paradox Among Blacks. Sociology of Education 82(1): 1–19.
-
Erikson, R. and Jonsson, J.O. 1996. Can Education be Equalized? Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
-
Feliciano, C. and Rumbaut, R.G. 2005. Gendered Paths: Educational and Occupational Expectations and Outcomes among Adult Children of Immigrants. Ethnic and Racial Studies 28(6): 1087–1118.
-
Goldenberg, C., Gallimore, R., Reese, L. and Garnier, H. 2001. Cause or Effect? A Longitudinal Study of Immigrant Latino Parents’ Aspirations and Expectations, and Their Children’s School Performance. American Educational Research Journal 38(3): 547–582.
-
Goldsmith, P.A. 2004. Schools’ Racial Mix, Students’ Optimism, and the Black-White and Latino-White Achievement Gaps. Sociology of Education 77(2): 121.
-
Gordon, M.M. 1964. Assimilation in American Life London: Oxford University Press.
-
Güngör, D., Fleischmann, F. and Phalet, K. 2011. Religious identification, beliefs, and practices among Turkish Belgian and Moroccan Belgian Muslims: Intergenerational continuity and acculturative change. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 42(8): 1356–1374.
-
Hanson, S.L. 1994. Lost Talent: Unrealized Educational Aspirations and Expectations among U.S. Youths. Sociology of Education 67(3): 159–183.
-
Heath, A.F., Rothon, C. and Kilpi, E. 2008. The Second Generation in Western Europe: Education, Unemployment, and Occupational Attainment. Annual Review of Sociology 34: 211–235.
-
Heath, A.F. and Brinbaum, Y. 2007. Guest Editorial. Explaining ethnic inequalities in educational attainment. Ethnicities 7(3): 291–305.
-
Heath, A.F. and Brinbaum, Y. (eds). 2014. Unequal Attainments: Ethnic educational inequalities in ten Western countries. Oxford University Press.
-
Ichou, M. 2014. Who They Were There: Immigrants’ Educational Selectivity and Their Children’s Educational Attainment. European Sociological Review 30(6): 750–765.
-
Jackson, M. and Jonsson, J.O. 2013. Why Does Inequality of Opportunity Vary across Countries? Primary and Secondary Effects in Comparative Context. In: Jackson, M. Determined to Succeed? Performance, Choice and Education. Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp. 306–337.
-
Jackson, M., Jonsson, J.O. and Rudolphi, F. 2012. Ethnic inequality in choice-driven education systems. A longitudinal study of achievement and choice in England and Sweden. Sociology of Education 85(2): 158–178.
-
Jonsson, J.O. and Rudolphi, F. 2011. Weak performance – strong determination. European Sociological Review 27(4): 487–508.
-
Kalter, F., Heath, A.F., Hewstone, M., Jonsson, J.O., Kalmijn, M., Kogan, I. and van Tubergen, F. 2016. Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU). GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA5353 Data file Version 1.0.0, doi:10.4232/cils4eu.5353.1.0.0.
-
Kao, G. and Thompson, J.S. 2003. Racial and ethnic stratification in educational achievement and attainment. Annual Review of Sociology 29: 417–442.
-
Kao, G. and Tienda, M. 1998. Educational aspirations of minority youth. American Journal of Education 106(3): 349–384.
-
Kao, G. and Tienda, M. 1995. Optimism and Achievement: The Educational Performance of Immigrant Youth. Social Science Quarterly 76(1): 1–19.
-
Kurz, K. and Böhner-Taute, E. 2016. Wer profitiert von den Korrekturmöglichkeiten in der Sekundarstufe? Who Benefits from the Possibilities of Correction in Secondary School? Zeitschrift für Soziologie: 45(6).
-
Mickelson, R.A. 1990. The Attitude-Achievement Paradox Among Black Adolescents. Sociology of Education 63(1): 44–61.
-
Mood, C. 2010. Why We Cannot Do What We Think We Can Do, and What We Can Do About It. European Sociological Review 26(1): 67–82.
-
Morgan, S.L. 2005. On the Edge of Commitment. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
-
OECD. 2017. Education at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators. Paris: OECD Publishing.
-
OECD. 2012. Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Indicator. Paris: OECD Publishing.
-
OECD. 2010. OECD Reviews of Migrant Education – Closing the Gap for Immigrant Students: Policies, Practice and Performance. Paris: OECD Publishing.
-
Portes, A. and Rumbaut, R.G. 2001. Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.
-
Portes, A. and Zhou, M. 1993. The New Second Generation: Segmented Assimilation and Its Variants. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 530: 74–96.
-
Reynolds, J., Stewart, M., MacDonald, R. and Sischo, L. 2006. Have Adolescents Become Too Ambitious? High School Seniors’ Educational and Occupational Plans, 1976 to 2000. Social Problems 53(2): 186–206.
-
Rosenbaum, J.E. 2001. Beyond college for all. Career paths for the forgotten half. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
-
Rothon, C. 2007. Can achievement differentials be explained by social class alone? An examination of minority ethnic educational performance in England and Wales at the end of compulsory schooling. Ethnicities 7(3): 306–322.
-
Salikutluk, Z. 2016. Why do immigrant students aim high? Explaining the aspiration–achievement paradox of immigrants in Germany. European Sociological Review 32(5): 581–592.
-
Shavit, Y. and Blossfeld, H.P. 1993. Persistent Inequality: Changing Educational Attainment in Thirteen Countries. Social Inequality Series. Boulder: Westview Press.
-
Stanat, P. and Edele, A. 2011. Migration und soziale Ungleichheit In: Ditton, H., Gniewosz, B., Gräsel, C. and Reinders, H. (eds). Empirische Bildungsforschung. Eine Einführung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, pp. 181–192.
-
Suarez-Orozco, C. and Suárez-Orozco, M.M. 1996. Transformations: Immigration, Family Life, and Achievement Motivation Among Latino Adolescents. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
-
Sue, S. and Okazaki, S. 1990. Asian-American educational achievements: A phenomenon in search of an explanation. American Psychologist 45: 913–920.
-
Tjaden, J.D. and Hunkler, C. 2017. The optimism trap: Migrants’ educational choices in stratified education systems. Social Science Research 67: 213–228.
-
Van de Werfhorst, H.G. and Mijs, J.B. 2010. Achievement inequality and the institutional structure of educational systems: A comparative perspective. Annual review of sociology 36: 407–428.
-
Van de Werfhorst, H.G. and van Tubergen, F. 2007. Ethnicity, schooling, and merit in the Netherlands. Ethnicities 7(3): 416–444.
-
Weiß, R.H. 2006. CFT-20R. Grundintelligenzskala 2 (Revision). Göttingen: Hogrefe.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 812 | 309 | 87 |
| Full Text Views | 125 | 72 | 8 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 187 | 94 | 5 |
Aiming High, No Matter What?
Educational Aspirations of Ethnic Minority and Ethnic Majority Youth in England, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden
In: Comparative SociologyAbstract
The authors examine cross-national variation in the ethnic gradient in aspirations among 14-year-olds in England, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden by using data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries, collected in 2009/2010. Results show that most ethnic minority groups are more likely to have university aspirations than ethnic majority youth. The most consistent minority advantage is found in England and Sweden, consistent with the interpretation that the ample scope for choice in progression through these school systems allows high ambitions of minorities to play out well. However, minority advantage of some groups is also present in the Netherlands and Germany, where transitions are more heavily conditional on previous performance. The pattern for immigrant generational status varies across countries and ethnic origins. There is no consistent empirical evidence indicating that aspiration differences between ethnic minority and majority youth will diminish due to assimilation processes across the generations.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 812 | 309 | 87 |
| Full Text Views | 125 | 72 | 8 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 187 | 94 | 5 |