It Takes a Village: Parental Involvement in Extracurricular Activities among Armenian immigrant and Native Born Families

• In Event: 416 - Section on the Sociology of the Family. Race, Ethnicity, Social Class, and Families

Abstract

Research shows that the children of hyper-selected immigrant groups—those whose foreign-born parents are both positively selected and also more highly educated than the general U.S. population—exhibit high educational outcomes. While these patterns correspond with the classic status attainment model, the model fails to explain why even second-generation children whose parents have not graduated from high school exhibit high educational aspirations and outcomes. Previous research has shown community based organizations might play a role in guiding these outcomes, but scholars have not fully explained how they matter. In this paper I fill that gap by focusing on educationally select Armenian immigrant parents in Los Angeles who volunteer in ethnic community based organizations. I detail the role they play in the lives of second-generation youth participants and discuss how this influences second-generation outcomes. Based on comparative ethnographic research of two youth scouting organizations and in-depth interviews with native born parents, Armenian immigrant parents and second-generation participants, I find that the socioeconomic heterogeneity of immigrants’ organizations fosters cross-class learning. This happens both formally and informally, resulting in unanticipated educational gains among the second-generation Armenians.

Author

• Oshin Khachikian, University of California, Irvine