The Complication of the Immigrant Paradox in Education among Children of Immigrants in the United States

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Abstract

The immigrant paradox refers to the phenomenon in which immigrants to the United States outperform native-born Americans. A body of research in education shows evidence of the immigrant paradox when comparing immigrant educational outcomes to students born in the US. The preeminent mechanisms used to explain the immigrant paradox in education center on immigrant-generated characteristics and behaviors, ignoring the influence of external factors outside of the control of immigrants that may explain (away) the immigrant paradox. In this research, I consider the role of race and one such external mechanism, discrimination, and their role in the relationship between nativity and educational outcomes. I use data from the Children of Immigrants Study (n=1960) to examine how the grade point average and college graduation rates fluctuate across nativity, influenced by race and perceived discrimination. I find weak support for the immigrant paradox in this study. Among 1.5 and 2nd generation immigrant students, I find that predicted GPA is sensitive to race. Furthermore, when looking at the likelihood of graduating college, not only are Latinos less likely than Whites to graduate college, but an “immigrant disadvantage” exists among Latinos, with foreign-born Latinos less likely to graduate college compared to their native-born Latino counterparts. Future research on the educational outcomes of immigrants can pickup from this study by continuing to focus upon race and external mechanisms to explain immigrant educational outcomes, especially in relation to native-born American students.

Author

• Raul S. Casarez, Rice University