Integration Paradoxes: Education, Residential Context, and Perceived Discrimination among Descendants of Immigrants in France

• In Event: Racial and Ethnic Minorities Section Roundtables Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table Three: Racialized and Ethnic Migration, Immigration, and Social Integration

Abstract

A large body of empirical research has documented a positive association between integration and perceived discrimination among immigrant minority groups, a phenomenon commonly referred to as the integration paradox. However, the heterogeneity of this relationship across racial groups has been largely overlooked in the literature. Yet, examining variations in the integration paradox across minority groups can shed light on differences in the prevalence of the mechanisms underlying this paradox.
Using two nationally representative French surveys, Trajectories and Origins 1 (2008-2009) and 2 (2019-2020), this article compares the influence of education on perceived discrimination among adult children of immigrants of Asian, European, North and Sub-Saharan African origin.
The results show that, depending on the origin, the integration paradox does not emerge under the same conditions. Higher education is sufficient to increase perceived discrimination among North and Sub-Saharan Africans, who are the minorities reporting the highest levels of perceived discrimination. For Asians, however, higher education alone does not lead to higher reported discrimination. Among this group, the integration paradox emerges only when individuals are exposed to a high share of White people in their residential context. No relationship is found for Europeans between education, exposure to the majority population and perceived discrimination. These findings nuance the integration paradox by highlighting the differentiated effects of the integration paradox mechanisms. Depending on minority groups’ position within the racial hierarchy in France, higher education and exposure to the majority population may – or may not – translate into higher levels of perceived discrimination.

Author

• Cao Minh Ho, Sciences Po