Expecting to Achieve Against the Odds: Anti-Immigrant Sentiment and Immigrants' Educational and Occupational Expectations

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Fourteen
  In Roundtable Session: Student Immigrant Educational Dilemmas: Various Perceptions (Table 15)

Abstract

In recent years, anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe has increased dramatically. While the factors that lead to this increase have been studied extensively, less is known about the effects of anti-immigrant sentiment, including its potential influence on the academic experiences of immigrant students. In this manuscript, I examine the relationship between anti-immigrant sentiment and immigrants’ ambition. I find that while immigrants generally have higher educational and occupational expectations than their nonimmigrant peers, these positive associations decrease as anti-immigrant sentiment increases. These findings shed light on the out-of-family and out-of-school factors that shape the educational trajectories of immigrant youth and show that a recent rise of anti-immigrant sentiment might bring about long-term damage to how well immigrants fare in their host countries.

Author

• Volha Chykina, University of Richmond
  Presenting Author