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The immigrant paradox and math self-concept: An SES-of-origin-country hypothesis
Abstract
The immigrant paradox is the phenomenon where recent immigrants have better outcomes than individuals from native-born families. Although limited past research has shown the paradox to exist for math self-concept, neither its exact nature nor a theoretical explanation for its existence have been reported. Using Australian cohort data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 (N = 12,551) and 2012 (N = 14,481), we first establish that immigrant students have higher math self-concepts than native students, controlling for gender and absolute parental socioeconomic status (SES), and show that it is similar to—albeit weaker than—the expectation-achievement gap. We then provide an SES-of-origin-country hypothesis as a contextual explanation for this effect; we show that the immigrant paradox for both math self-concept and educational expectations substantially reduces when accounting for parents' SES relative to their country-of-origin. Our findings suggest that the paradox for math self-concept and educational expectations may partly result from immigrant parents’ socioeconomic advantage in their home countries.
... The concept of a 'mathematics self-concept and immigrant paradox' (Marsh, 2016) suggests that immigrant students may have higher levels of maths self-concept compared to native students, despite achieving similar levels in maths. The paradox effect has also been observed in the Australian education system (Basarkod et al., 2022). Additionally, findings from PISA 2003 indicate that immigrant students may perceive themselves to have higher maths self-concept but perform lower in comparison to native students (OECD, 2006). ...
... Notably, unlike the immigrant paradox observed in other education systems (referring to immigrant students reporting lower levels of mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy but performing better in mathematics tests compared to their native peers, e.g. Basarkod et al., 2022;Marsh, 2016), the impact of immigration background on students' mathematics self-concept, self-efficacy, and achievement in Sweden is consistent with the findings of PISA 2003. In this case, immigrant students perform lower in mathematics but indicate higher levels of mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy (OECD, 2006). ...
This study investigates the relationships between students’ self-concept, self-efficacy, and achievement in mathematics, considering contextual factors such as socioeconomic status, gender, and immigration background, by using Swedish data from PISA 2003 and 2012. Additionally, these relationships between the two types of schools in Sweden are compared. In Sweden, the school system generally includes municipally-run schools (public) and independent schools (also funded by the state but run privately). Findings indicate a positive correlation between robust mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy and enhanced mathematics performance. Notably, students with better socioeconomic status exhibit heightened levels of mathematical self-concept and self-efficacy, corresponding to superior mathematics outcomes. Gender nuances reveal that, despite superior mathematical performance, girls report less positive self-concept and self-efficacy in mathematics than boys. Surprisingly, mathematics self-concept tends to have a closer association with achievement in independent schools than in public schools, while mathematics self-efficacy influences achievement more in public schools than in independent schools. Besides, independent school students’ mathematics achievement is more associated with socioeconomic status and gender compared to their public-school peers. Immigration background seems to play a more important role in predicting mathematics achievement in public schools than in independent schools.
... Two other studies involved the use of Australian PISA data to investigate immigrant students' experiences. Basarkod et al. (2022) confirmed the Immigrant Paradox 4 for mathematics self-concept and improved the predictive utility of SES for academic outcomes for immigrant students, by moving from an absolute SES measure (number of years of education for the highest-educated parent) to a relative SES measure (by making comparisons to the average number of years of education in that parent's country of origin). Dockery et al. (2020) found that immigrant students' scores were influenced by the degree of gender equity in their home countries, with little difference shown between first-generation and second-generation immigrants, indicating the strong influence of the home country's culture. ...
... The Immigrant Paradox refers to phenomenon where immigrants have better outcomes than nativeborn students despite the barriers that they experience when migrating to another country(Basarkod et al., 2022). ...
Recent Australasian research into the impact of gender, culture and ethnicity, socio-economic status, and rural and remote location on equity in mathematics education is reviewed and critiqued in this chapter. We describe our search methods and synthesise the main research approaches and findings used to explore each of these equity factors and their impacts on mathematics achievement, participation, attitudes, and lived experiences. The variety of methodological approaches used, from small-scale qualitative approaches to large-scale quantitative analyses of existing datasets, are discussed, as are the theoretical frameworks underpinning the work. We identify gaps that persist in these areas of equity-focused research, providing recommendations for future exploration across the equity factors, including the need for additional focus on intersectionality in equity research, more longitudinal studies, increased coverage of participants from the early childhood and tertiary sectors, and more explicit connections of research approaches and findings to theoretical frameworks.
... Alivernini et al., 2017;Castillo, 2020), which draws attention to the immigrant paradox (e.g., Hill & Torres, 2010). This paradox, although strongly recognized amongst the educational community, is still approached with some inconsistency in what concerns both its definition and operationalization (Basarkod et al., 2022). Similarly, motivation is often operationalized in different ways and thus research results and its comparability should be approached and interpreted carefully. ...
Background: Comparative educational research has studied inequality in educational outcomes through large-scale assessments like PISA and TIMSS, by identifying achievement gaps within social groups (e.g., gender, parental education, and immigrant gaps) to inform investment in intervention programs and educational policies. However, the focus of these studies has mainly been on achievement, neglecting social and affective adaptation factors (e.g., confidence, enjoyment, and value). This paper argues for the inclusion of affective components in studying educational inequalities and analyzes affective gaps using TIMSS 2019 data.
// Method: We investigate gender, parental education, and immigration status gaps regarding confidence, enjoyment, and attributed value for math learning. For context, achievement gaps are also analyzed and accounted for with the goal of confirming previous research and to assess its role in affective gaps. Regression analysis across 39 countries in TIMSS 2019 (23 in the case of immigration status) were conducted. Complex sample designs were accounted for using the IDB Data Analyzer, sampling weights, and the Jackknife Replication procedure to compute standard errors, with pooled effect sizes calculated using a random effects model.
// Results:
Among the key findings, we observe that in the case of gender, a clear general gap benefitting boys was observed in most countries for math confidence, enjoyment, and value. As for parental education, the well-known results concerning achievement are reproduced for the assessed affective components of math learning, that is, students from highly educated parents have a clear tendency to be more confident towards math, and to enjoy and value math learning more. Finally, results are rather mixed in what concerns gaps according to immigration status, as trends vary throughout nations. These results mainly remained when controlling for achievement. At the country level, we found that achievement gaps correlate with confidence gaps but not with enjoyment or value gaps.
// Conclusions: Our findings highlight that affective gaps—differences in students' confidence, enjoyment, and value attributed to math—are distinct from achievement gaps and often follow unique patterns across gender, parental education, and immigration status. While achievement gaps may correlate with confidence gaps, they do not align with enjoyment and value gaps, underscoring that affective dimensions of learning cannot be fully understood through achievement data alone. This study sets out to contribute to a more holistic view on academic adaptation when it concerns equalities in the field.
... This definition of task expectancy overlaps with current conceptualizations of ''academic self-concept'' (Marsh et al., 2019). A perception of domain-specific competence, such as mathematics self-concept, is a useful predictor of future mathematics choices and courseselections (Basarkod et al., 2022). This is because students who feel competent that they possess the required skills for success in a course are more likely to select that course than students who do not expect to achieve in the same course. ...
Higher-level mathematics courses in upper secondary school serve as a critical filter to future educational courses and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). However, the percentage of senior school students in Australia undertaking higher-level mathematics courses is decreasing. Given that these courses provide students with skills and knowledge integral to STEM disciplines, it is important to discover factors that serve to encourage or detract students in choosing higher-level mathematics courses. Considering that educational and career choices are influenced by personal interests, values, and expectations, the purpose of this study was to design and validate a bipolar format survey instrument to investigate motivational factors on mathematics course choices of Year 10 Australian school students based upon Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (SEVT). A 25-item survey instrument using a bipolar format was developed to measure: Expectancy for success (operationalized as Competence-beliefs); Intrinsic value; Attainment value; Utility value; and Cost in relation to mathematics. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses of data collected from Year 10 students (n = 886) revealed a four-factor model consisting of well-defined factors of Competence-beliefs, Intrinsic value, Attainment value, and Utility value. Unexpectedly, the items designed to measure the Cost factor dispersed variously into the factors of Competence-beliefs, Intrinsic value, and Utility value, and conceptually plausible explanations are offered for this finding. This survey represents a promising instrument for measuring predictors of mathematics course choices in senior school students. The study findings also suggest interrelationships between specific cost dimensions and other factors relevant to the measurement of SEVT constructs more generally.
... One such study was developed by Boman [41], who analyzed the relationship of sociodemographic and socioeconomic variables on the performance of Swedish students compared to 31 countries. Another research by Basarkod [42] identified the immigration effects on the PISA test results in Italy from 2003 to 2021. In Spain, scores from the 2006-2018 PISA test were used to analyze the relationship between cell phone use with bullying and test scores [43]. ...
This research proposes to evaluate the difference in essential mathematical competencies of middle school students transitioning to high school level under pandemic conditions (COVID-19) using the PreparaTec platform and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) released items as an evaluation instrument. The study was conducted with 84 students from first semester high school at Prepa Tec (Tecnologico de Monterrey, Campus Cuernavaca) aged 14 and 15. The students were divided into three experimental groups and a control group. Three levels of mathematical competencies: reproduction, definitions, and calculations (level 1), connections and integration to solve problems (level 2), and reflection (level 3) were evaluated. We applied a pre-test at the beginning of the semester and a post-test at the end after using the PreparaTec platform. Both tests were written and applied in a face-to-face format. The study presents the findings regarding the impact of using the PreparaTec platform during the first semester in the three levels of mathematical competencies mentioned. The results obtained are presented in two analyses. The first analysis involves the results obtained per experimental group and according to the number of correct answers per group. The second analysis represents a comparison between the percentage of correct answers and the level of difficulty per question per student regarding the percentage, determined by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Spain in the format presented by PISA. The pre-test and post-test consisted of 23 questions from items released from PISA, which contemplated measuring the three levels of mathematical competence. The results showed an improvement of 57% in level 1 proficiency questions, 63.6% in level 2 proficiency, and 100% in level 3 proficiency. The findings indicate that new teaching strategies based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and more meaningful assessment forms further develop students’ mathematical competencies.
This book compiles the research conducted by the author during the years 2019-2022. The objective of this book is to present the results of a study related to educational innovation from different aspects. The reasons for writing this scientific work originate from the interest to contribute to knowledge in the area of educational research. Teachers, administrators, and academic researchers
can use the methodologies and results to support educational innovation.
The present study examines the comparability of the PISA 2018 HOMEPOS scale—an indicator of SES—across immigration status in Norway and Sweden. Specifically, we evaluate:
(a) the overall measurement invariance of the HOMEPOS scale;
(b) the differential functioning of the HOMEPOS items; and
(c) the relationship between HOMEPOS and reading achievement across immigration status when using different strategies to handle the potential non-comparability of the HOMEPOS items. We further provide recommendations for the use of the HOMEPOS scale when comparisons across immigration status are of interest.
Prostate cancer is a highly heritable disease with large disparities in incidence rates across ancestry populations. We conducted a multiancestry meta-analysis of prostate cancer genome-wide association studies (107,247 cases and 127,006 controls) and identified 86 new genetic risk variants independently associated with prostate cancer risk, bringing the total to 269 known risk variants. The top genetic risk score (GRS) decile was associated with odds ratios that ranged from 5.06 (95% confidence interval (CI), 4.84–5.29) for men of European ancestry to 3.74 (95% CI, 3.36–4.17) for men of African ancestry. Men of African ancestry were estimated to have a mean GRS that was 2.18-times higher (95% CI, 2.14–2.22), and men of East Asian ancestry 0.73-times lower (95% CI, 0.71–0.76), than men of European ancestry. These findings support the role of germline variation contributing to population differences in prostate cancer risk, with the GRS offering an approach for personalized risk prediction.
The present meta-analysis assessed concurrent and longitudinal associations between parental educational expectations and child achievement, and factors that mediate the effect of expectations on achievement. A systematic search in electronic databases identified 169 studies that were included in a random-effects meta-analysis. We found small to moderate bivariate cross-sectional (r = .30) and longitudinal associations (r = .28) between parental expectation and achievement which persisted after statistically controlling for socioeconomic status. Associations varied, in part, by children’s age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, matching of type of expectations and achievement, type of expectation assessed, publication status, and informant. The analysis of cross-lagged effects indicated that parental expectations predicted change in child achievement, thus indicating that expectations had an effect over and above the effect of prior achievement. Effects of expectations on change in achievement were even stronger (r = .15) than the effects of achievement on change in expectation (r = .09). Parental expectations tended to be higher than the child achievement. Associations between expectations and achievement were partially mediated by educational expectations in the offspring, child academic engagement, and academic self-concept, and to a lesser extent, by parental achievement-supportive behaviors. We conclude that parents are recommended to communicate positive educational expectations to their children. The transmission of positive expectations to the offspring and the encouragement of academic engagement seem to be more effective in realizing parental expectations than parental behavioral academic involvement such as checking homework and staying in contact with teachers.
The vast majority of immigration-focused research in psychology is rooted in deficit models that center on negative health outcomes (e.g., depression, acculturative stress, anxiety, substance use), resulting in a widely held assumption that immigrants are at greater risk for pathology and poor well-being compared to native-born individuals. Moreover, current political discourse often portrays immigrants as more crime-prone compared to native-born individuals. From a positive psychology perspective, we argue that, despite numerous migration-related challenges, many immigrant populations report positive patterns of psychological health. We also provide evidence that immigrants are, in fact, less prone to crime than their native-born counterparts. We conclude by discussing a number of contributing factors that account for positive immigrant well-being across the range of destination countries. Ultimately, the field should address questions regarding (a) immigrants’ strategies for coping with the challenges involved in adapting to new homelands and (b) asset-based questions regarding factors that make immigrants thrive during difficult life challenges.
Despite a widely held belief that Australia is an egalitarian society where social origin is less important than in many other advanced economies, previous research shows that there is an enduring association between socioeconomic status, as measured by parental education, and child’s educational attainment. Less attention has been paid to the effects of another indicator of socioeconomic status, namely family wealth, on educational attainment. In this article, I examine associations between parental wealth and educational attainment, occupational prestige and wealth in young adulthood using data from the Housing, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) project collected in 2002 and 2014. The results show that high levels of family wealth are associated with higher levels of educational attainment, occupational prestige and individual wealth in young adulthood.
Our newly proposed integrated academic self-concept model integrates 3 major theories of academic self-concept formation and developmental perspectives into a unified conceptual and methodological framework. Relations among math self-concept (MSC), school grades, test scores, and school-level contextual effects over 6 years, from the end of primary school through the first 5 years of secondary school (a representative sample of 3,370 German students, 42 secondary schools, 50% male, M age at grade 5 = 11.75) support the (1) internal/external frame of reference model: Math school grades had positive effects on MSC, but the effects of German grades were negative; (2) reciprocal effects (longitudinal panel) model: MSC was predictive of and predicted by math test scores and school grades; (3) big-fish-little-pond effect: The effects on MSC were negative for school-average achievement based on 4 indicators (primary school grades in math and German, school-track prior to the start of secondary school, math test scores in the first year of secondary school). Results for all 3 theoretical models were consistent across the 5 secondary school years: This supports the prediction of developmental equilibrium. This integration highlights the robustness of support over the potentially volatile early to middle adolescent period; the interconnectedness and complementarity of 3 ASC models; their counterbalancing strengths and weaknesses; and new theoretical, developmental, and substantive implications at their intersections.
Socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and gender inequalities in academic achievement have been widely reported in the US, but how these three axes of inequality intersect to determine academic and non-academic outcomes among school-aged children is not well understood. Using data from the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K; N = 10,115), we apply an intersectionality approach to examine inequalities across eighth-grade outcomes at the intersection of six racial/ethnic and gender groups (Latino girls and boys, Black girls and boys, and White girls and boys) and four classes of socioeconomic advantage/disadvantage. Results of mixture models show large inequalities in socioemotional outcomes (internalizing behavior, locus of control, and self-concept) across classes of advantage/disadvantage. Within classes of advantage/disadvantage, racial/ethnic and gender inequalities are predominantly found in the most advantaged class, where Black boys and girls, and Latina girls, underperform White boys in academic assessments, but not in socioemotional outcomes. In these latter outcomes, Black boys and girls perform better than White boys. Latino boys show small differences as compared to White boys, mainly in science assessments. The contrasting outcomes between racial/ethnic and gender minorities in self-assessment and socioemotional outcomes, as compared to standardized assessments, highlight the detrimental effect that intersecting racial/ethnic and gender discrimination have in patterning academic outcomes that predict success in adult life. Interventions to eliminate achievement gaps cannot fully succeed as long as social stratification caused by gender and racial discrimination is not addressed.
Given that the Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect, the negative effect of school-average achievement on academic self-concept, is one of the most robust findings in educational psychology (Marsh, Seaton et al., 2007), this research extends the theoretical model, based on social comparison theory, to study relative year in school effects (e.g., being 1 school year ahead or behind same-age students) for math constructs in PISA2003 (276,165 15-year-old students from 10,274 schools across 41 countries). The effects on academic self-concept were negative for de facto acceleration (e.g., starting early or skipping grades) and positive for de facto retention (e.g., starting late or repeating grades). These negative effects of relative year in school were: (a) cross-culturally robust across all 41 PISA2003 countries (significantly negative in most, not significantly positive in any); (b) neither substantially explained nor moderated by a diverse range of control variables (e.g., gender, school starting age, repeating grades, home language, immigrant status, SES, achievement); © independent of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect. The negative effects of acceleration and the positive effects of retention are consistent with a priori predictions based on frame-of-reference research, one area of social comparison research, but apparently inconsistent with some popular beliefs in relation to policy/practice based on these variables. (PsycINFO Database Record
The immigrant paradox in childhood and adolescence is a population-level phenomenon wherein U.S.-born youth (or more highly acculturated immigrants) have less optimal developmental outcomes than newcomer immigrant youth. These patterns, which hold true after accounting for the generally lower income and parent education levels among first-generation immigrant families, have existed for decades in the United States. In this article, we address this topic in child development research, offering insights into studies to explain why the paradox occurs from the standpoint of both risk and resilience. We also present ideas for research and implications for developing policies and methods for effective practice with immigrant families.
Drawing on the expectancy-value model, the present study explored individual and gender differences in university entry and selection of educational pathway (e.g., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM] course selection). In particular, we examined the multiplicative effects of expectancy and task values on educational outcomes during the transition into early adulthood. Participants were from a nationally representative longitudinal sample of 15-year-old Australian youths (N = 10,370). The results suggest that (a) both math self-concept and intrinsic value interact in predicting advanced math course selection, matriculation results, entrance into university, and STEM fields of study; (b) prior reading achievement has negative effects on advanced math course selection and STEM fields through math motivational beliefs; and (c) gender differences in educational outcomes are mediated by gender differences in motivational beliefs and prior academic achievement, while the processes underlying choice of educational pathway were similar for males and females. (PsycINFO Database Record
(c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
This article moves beyond current understandings of family- and school-related dynamics used to explain the educational and occupational success of low-income immigrant children to investigate the role of cultural capital acquired in the country of origin. Class-related forms of knowledge obtained prior to migration can become invaluable assets in areas of destination through the realization of what Pierre Boutdieu calls habitus, that is, a series of embodied dispositions deployed by individuals in their pursuit of set objectives. Although the concept has attracted prolonged attention, the mechanisms by which the habitus is fulfilled remain unspecified. Here, the author proposes and examines three of those mechanisms: (1) cognitive correspondence, (2) positive emulation, and (3) active recollection. This study shows that class-related resources, such as education, self-definition, and remembrance of nation and ancestry play an important function, shaping youthful expectations and behaviors, and protecting the children of low-income immigrants from downward mobility.
Examined correlations of multiple dimensions of self-concepts in 305 6th graders from high- and low-SES schools with teacher ratings of student self-concepts and academic ability and with academic test scores. Ss were administered the Self-Description Questionnaire. The pattern of correlations demonstrated the clear separation between different areas of self-concept. Ss in low-SES/low-ability schools had higher self-concepts than in high-SES/high-ability schools, thus replicating the controversial findings by A. T. Soares and L. M. Coares (see record
1970-01244-001) and by N. Trowbridge (see record
1973-09316-001). This negative effect was substantially larger after controlling for the effect of individual SES and academic ability. It is suggested that because this is the appropriate index of the negative effect, the earlier studies seriously underestimated the size of the negative effect of school SES on self-concept. Path analytic models indicated that attendance at a high-SES school (as opposed to a low-SES school) was correlated not only with a lower level of academic self-concept but also with a somewhat higher level of academic ability/achievement. A variety of seemingly paradoxical findings are consistent with a frame of reference hypotheses, which was also used to derive the title of the present study. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Studies indicate that U.S.-born Latino teens exhibit higher rates of alcohol use compared with their foreign-born counterparts. Different hypotheses have been advanced to explain the mechanisms underlying this immigrant paradox, including the erosion of protective cultural factors across generations and increased exposure to risky peer environments in the United States. The present study examined whether the immigrant paradox applies to drinking initiation and problematic drinking among Latino adolescents, and tested whether generational differences in family protective factors and peer risk factors might explain the immigrant paradox. A nationally representative sample of Latino teens (N = 2,482) of Cuban, Mexican, and Puerto Rican origin from 3 immigrant generations (21% first generation, 33% second generation, and 46% third and later generations) was obtained from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Logistic and negative binomial regression models indicated that early drinking initiation and problematic alcohol use were more prevalent among later-generation youth, supporting the immigrant paradox. Erosion of family closeness and increased association with substance-using peers mediated the relationship between generation and alcohol use patterns in this sample. Results provide support for culturally sensitive interventions that target peer perceptions of substance use and bolster protective family values among Latino adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
Amelia is a complete R package for multiple imputation of missing data. The pack-age implements a new expectation-maximization with bootstrapping algorithm that works faster, with larger numbers of variables, and is far easier to use, than various Markov chain Monte Carlo approaches, but gives essentially the same answers. The program also im-proves imputation models by allowing researchers to put Bayesian priors on individual cell values, thereby including a great deal of potentially valuable and extensive information. It also includes features to accurately impute cross-sectional datasets, individual time series, or sets of time series for different cross-sections. A full set of graphical diagnostics are also available. The program is easy to use, and the simplicity of the algorithm makes it far more robust; both a simple command line and extensive graphical user interface are included.
One possible reason for the continued neglect of statistical power analysis in research in the behavioral sciences is the inaccessibility of or difficulty with the standard material. A convenient, although not comprehensive, presentation of required sample sizes is provided. Effect-size indexes and conventional values for these are given for operationally defined small, medium, and large effects. The sample sizes necessary for .80 power to detect effects at these levels are tabled for 8 standard statistical tests: (1) the difference between independent means, (2) the significance of a product-moment correlation, (3) the difference between independent rs, (4) the sign test, (5) the difference between independent proportions, (6) chi-square tests for goodness of fit and contingency tables, (7) 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and (8) the significance of a multiple or multiple partial correlation.
We compare the selective immigration policies in Australia, Canada and the United States over the twentieth century and as they exist today. We then review existing information about the link between selective immigration policy and immigration outcomes in the three countries. The literature reviewed suggests that there does seem to be potential for selective immigration policy to affect immigrant outcomes by altering the skill levels of immigrants. Still, it is clear that other forces are at work as well. Historical accidents, social forces, and simple geography may all have a hand in shaping traditional migration patterns, while labor market conditions—in particular the relative return to skill—are likely to be as important as policy in producing migration incentives.
This meta-analysis synthesizes the empirical data on problem behaviors among foreign- (G1) and U.S-born (G2+) youth and explores the effects of immigrant status on youth internalizing and externalizing problems. A random effects meta-regression with robust variance estimates summarized effect sizes for internalizing and externalizing problems across 91 studies (N = 179,315, Mage = 13.98). Results indicated that G1 youth reported significantly more internalizing problems (g = .06), and fewer externalizing problems than G2+ youth (g = -.06). Gender and sample type moderated the effects. The findings provide a first-step toward reconciling mixed support for the immigrant paradox by identifying for whom and under what conditions the immigrant experience serves as a risk or protective factor for youth.
The concept of self is central to personhood, but personality research has largely ignored the relevance of recent advances in self‐concept theory: multidimensionality of self‐concept (focusing instead on self‐esteem, an implicit unidimensional approach), domain specificity (generalizability of trait manifestations over different domains), and multilevel perspectives in which social‐cognitive processes and contextual effects drive self‐perceptions at different levels (individual, group/institution, and country) aligned to Bronfenbrenner's ecological model. Here, we provide theoretical and empirical support for psychological comparison processes that influence self‐perceptions and their relation to distal outcomes. Our meta‐theoretical integration of social and dimensional comparison theories synthesizes five seemingly paradoxical frame‐of‐reference and contextual effects in self‐concept formation that occur at different levels. The effects were tested with a sample of 485,490 fifteen‐year‐old students (68 countries/regions, 18,292 schools). Consistent with the dimensional comparison theory, the effects on math self‐concept were positive for math achievement but negative for verbal achievement. Consistent with the social comparison theory, the effects on math self‐concept were negative for school‐average math achievement (big‐fish‐little‐pond effect), country‐average achievement (paradoxical cross‐cultural effect), and being young relative to year in school but positive for school‐average verbal achievement (big‐fish‐little‐pond effect—compensatory effect). We demonstrate cross‐cultural generalizability/universality of support for predictions and discuss implications for personality research. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology
This book examines socioeconomic inequality and student outcomes across various Western industrialized nations and the varying success they have had in addressing achievement gaps in lower socioeconomic status student populations. It presents the national profiles of countries with notable achievement gaps within the respective school-aged student populations, explains the trajectory of achievement results in relation to both national and international large-scale assessment measures, and discusses how relevant education policies have evolved within their national contexts. Most importantly, the national profiles investigate the effectiveness of policy responses that have been adopted to close the achievement gap in lower socioeconomic status student populations. This book provides a cross-national analysis of policy approaches designed to address socioeconomic inequality.
BACKGROUND The Healthy Immigrant Effect (HIE) refers to the fact that recent migrants are in better health than the nonmigrant population in the host country. Central to explaining the HIE is the idea that migrants are positively selected in terms of their socioeconomic and health characteristics when compared to nonmigrants in their country of origin. However, due to a lack of reliable and comparable data, most existing studies rely on socioeconomic and health measures as collected in the host country after migration and do not actually measure selection. OBJECTIVE We directly test selection as an explanation of the HIE among migrants living in France. METHODS Using the French Trajectories and Origins (TeO) survey and Barro-Lee dataset, we construct a direct measure of migrants' educational selectivity. We then test its effect on health differences between migrants and nonmigrants using measures self-rated health, health limitations, and chronic illnesses, by fitting logistic regression and Karlson- Holm-Breen (KHB) decompositions. RESULTS After demonstrating that migrants in France experience an HIE, especially males, we also show that educational level as measured in the host country cannot account for the HIE. By contrast, we provide important evidence that educational selectivity constitutes a significant factor in explaining health disparities between migrant and nonmigrant populations. CONTRIBUTION Capitalizing on a novel measure of migrants' educational selectivity, we give credit to the oft-cited but rarely tested theory that the HIE is a consequence of migrants' positive selection.
Why is it that children of immigrants often outdo their ethnic majority peers in educational aspirations yet struggle to keep pace with their achievements? This article advances the explanation that many immigrant communities, while positively selected on education, still have moderate absolute levels of schooling. Therefore, parents’ education may imbue children with high expectations but not always the means to fulfill them. Swedish data on children of immigrants from over 100 countries of origin support this view: Net of parents’ absolute years of schooling, a high rank in the sending country benefits children’s aspirations, attitudes, and educational choices but not their test scores or school grades. The upshot is an ‘‘aspiration squeeze’’ where to emulate their parents’ relative place in the education distribution, children are left struggling against the momentous tide of educational expansion.
We examined life-course effects of attending selective schools using a longitudinal study of U.S. high school students begun in 1960 (Ns ranging from 1,952 to 377,015). The effects, measured 11 and 50 years after the initial assessment, differed significantly across the two indicators of school selectivity that were used. School average socioeconomic background was positively related to students’ educational expectations, educational attainment, income, and occupational prestige at the 11-year follow-up (0.15 ≤ β ≤ 0.39; all ps < .001). Conversely, schools’ average achievement at the 11-year follow-up was negatively related to students’ expectations, attainment, income, and occupational prestige (−0.42 ≤ β ≤ −0.05; all ps < .05) when schools’ socioeconomic background was controlled for. All associations were mediated by students’ educational expectations. With the exception of income, these effects were consistent 50 years after high school, pointing to the long reach of beneficial learning resources and negative social comparison processes when attending selective schools.
To date, scholarship has neglected the role of elite cues in shaping immigration attitudes. When included, attention has been limited to political elites and parties. Yet, other societal actors have the potential to shape attitudes. This article employs mixed methods to analyse the discourse of the Church of England and attempts to uncover whether this discourse impacts the immigration attitudes of ‘their’ audience in the United Kingdom during 2005–2015. The discourse analysis finds that non-threatening migration frames dominate. Using European Social Survey (ESS) data (Rounds 4–7), regression analysis indicates that greater exposure to elite cues, via attendance at religious services, is consistently related to more positive immigration attitudes. Thus, for those most exposed, elite cues may be acting as a partial bulwark against the ubiquitous security-threat discourse of political elites. Overall, findings imply that despite their previous neglect, religious elite actors have the capacity to shape immigration attitudes and therefore de/construct issues of security.
Numerous studies have revealed a seemingly paradoxical pattern in which, despite cultural differences, unfamiliarity with the educational system, and possible language difficulties, children of immigrants outperform their peers with native-born parents in the U.S. educational system. We problematize the notion of an immigrant paradox in education by broadening our conceptualization of social class background, and introducing the concept of contextual attainment to capture the geographic and historical contexts in which education is completed. Analyzing nationally representative longitudinal survey data combined with international educational data, we show that, for immigrant parents, contextual attainments vary between and within countries of origin and often diverge from post-migration socioeconomic statuses. Parental contextual attainment helps explain why, net of standard family socioeconomic status measures, most groups of immigrants’ children complete more years of schooling than do White Americans with native-born parents. Moreover, considering parental contextual attainment leads to a rethinking of intergenerational educational mobility patterns for adults with immigrant parents. We argue that contextual attainment captures the noneconomic benefits of higher class background that help explain how intergenerational educational inequalities are reproduced.
Educational aspirations are generally based on past academic achievement and families’ endowment with the resources needed to reach targeted educational levels. However, although they perform worse at school and hold lower social status, previous research observes that some ethnic minorities tend to express higher educational ambitions than natives. This study discusses and tests possible reasons for this striking finding using German data from the Young Immigrants in the German and Israeli Educational Systems project, which includes families from Turkey and the former Soviet Union. The results reveal that Turkish students hold higher aspirations than their native counterparts, whereas no aspiration gap was found between natives and adolescents from the former Soviet Union. While German students’ aspiration patterns can mainly be ascribed to status attainment motivation, Turkish students’ high educational ambitions seem to be stimulated by a desire of status upward mobility.
Enhancing the academic self-concept (ASC) is an important goal in its own right and facilitates the accomplishment of a wide variety of educational outcomes. The big-fish–little-pond effect (BFLPE), based on an integration of theoretical models, posits that high-ability students will have lower ASCs when placed in high-ability educational tracks with other high-ability students, while lower-ability students will have higher ASCs when placed in low-ability tracks with other lower-ability students. Thus, in terms of ASC, highly segregated educational systems are expected to disadvantage the brightest students and advantage the least able students in terms of ASC. Here we review the BFLPE literature over the 30 years since the first BFLPE study, with a focus on ongoing empirical issues, new theoretical perspectives, increasingly sophisticated methodological approaches, and policy/practice implications. We conclude with an overview of methodological issues pertaining to the BFLPE and the ways in which BFLPE methodology has changed and progressed over the last 30 years to take advantage of advances in statistical methodology.
In this paper we seek to provide an explanation of three widely documented empirical phenomena. These are: (i) increasing educational participation rates; (ii) little change in class differentials in these rates; and (iii) a recent and very rapid erosion of gender differentials in educational attainment levels. We develop a formal mathematical model, using a rational action approach and drawing on earlier work that seeks to explain these three trends as the product of individual decisions made in the light of the resources available to, and the constraints facing, individual pupils and their families. The model represents children and their families as acting rationally, i.e. as choosing among the different educational options available to them on the basis of evaluations of their costs and benefits and of the perceived probabilities of more or less successful outcomes. It then accounts for stability, or change, in the educational differentials that ensue by reference to a quite limited range of situational features. So, both class and gender differences in patterns of educational decisions are explained as the consequence of differences in resources and constraints. We do not, therefore, invoke 'cultural' or 'normative' differences between classes or genders to account for why they differ in their typical educational decisions (though we have something to say about the role of norms in such an account). Because the model is presented mathematically, testable corollaries are easy to derive as are other implications of our model for patterns of relevant behaviour.
Background
The reciprocal I/E model (RI/EM) combines the internal/external frame of reference model (I/EM) with the reciprocal effects model (REM). The RI/EM extends the I/EM longitudinally and the REM across domains. The model predicts that, within domains, mathematics and verbal achievement (VACH) and academic self-concept have positive effects on subsequent mathematics and VACH and academic self-concept within domains but have negative effects across domains. AimsThe main purpose is to validate the RI/EM and extend it using objective achievement indicators and grades. SampleTwo waves of data collection from grade 5 to grade 9 with N=1,045 secondary school students were used. Methods
Test scores, grades, and self-concept data were obtained. The main analyses were conducted using hierarchical linear modelling. ResultsThe positive longitudinal effects of grades and test scores on subsequent grades, test scores and academic self-concept within domains and the negative effects of grades and test scores on subsequent academic self-concept across domains supported the RI/EM. The effects of academic self-concept on subsequent grades and test scores across domains were near zero when prior achievement indicators were controlled for. Overall, the results using school grades as achievement measures were replicated using standardized achievement test scores. Conclusions
The results serve to highlight the importance of the combination of common theories, which are mostly investigated individually, to enhance our understanding of the complexity of within- and across-domain relations between academic self-concepts and achievement using grades as well as test scores.
Understanding how immigrants' children form educational expectations may yield insights into the causes of eventual ethnic disparities in socioeconomic attainments. This article examines how the average relative premigration educational status of the immigrant group and the immigrant group's average postmigration SES shape the educational expectations of immigrants' children. It analyzes a unique data set that was compiled from published international data and U.S. census data on 30 immigrant groups, combined with data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey. The findings reveal that higher group premigration educational status facilitates higher perceived parental aspirations, which shape the educational expectations of second-generation youths. Furthermore, as an immigrant group's premigration educational status increases, youths' educational expectations also increase. The results highlight the interaction between group and individual-level factors in that the effect of parents' socioeconomic status on students' educational expectations depends upon the premigration status of their immigrant group. These findings suggest that a premigration group-level characteristic influences second-generation adaptation beyond its association with family background and that greater attention should be drawn to the effects of premigration factors in shaping ethnic communities and the experiences of immigrant groups in the United States.
The pattern of immigration in the last few decades coupled with the tendency for ethnic differences in educational attainment that persist over subsequent immigrant generations has led to an increasing gap in academic achievement between immigrant children, who have received little or none of their education in Canada, and nonimmigrant children, who have received all of their education in Canada. Educators tend to stress the socioeconomic and cultural factors affecting immigrant adolescents' academic achievement to the exclusion of the psychological factors that are also at play in the lives of immigrant adolescents. Therefore, this study examined the impact of psychological indicators, such as academic self-concept and academic motivation, on the academic achievement of immigrant and nonimmigrant adolescents in the Greater Toronto Area secondary schools. The immigrant adolescents in this study performed as well as their nonimmigrant counterparts in English and overall school performance. The immigrant adolescents outperformed their nonimmigrant counterparts in mathematics. The immigrant adolescents had higher levels of math and school self-concepts as well as higher intrinsic and extrinsic motivation than their nonimmigrant counterparts. Math self-concept was the only predictor of math GPA for both immigrant and nonimmigrant adolescents. However, both verbal self-concept and school self-concept were the best predictors of English GPA for both immigrant and nonimmigrant adolescents. While school self-concept was the only predictor of overall GPA for nonimmigrant adolescents, the additional factors of math self-concept and extrinsic motivation-external regulation were the best predictors for immigrant adolescents.
The school transition model suggests that children's transitions into formal schooling can have lasting and profound implications for their educational careers, though this model is rarely used to understand the outcomes of children of immigrants. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), a nationally representative sample of kindergarteners in 1998–1999, we examine the pre-kindergarten child care arrangements of children of immigrants and how these care arrangements are associated with children's behavior. We find that minority and immigrant children are less likely than their native-born white counterparts to be enrolled in center-based care and other care, compared to parental care, prior to kindergarten. We also find that ethnic origin is an important predictor of child care usage. Finally, though center-based care, on average, is not independently associated with children's behavior in kindergarten, the association between center-based care and behaviors varies by race and immigrant status. Broadly, these findings underscore the importance of understanding how native- and foreign-born children experience the transition to schooling, a critical period in the life course.
This article traces historically the different research approaches in educational anthropology. In doing so, the author presents a theoretical approach to minority school performance based on the important differences that arise from a minority community's experiences in the postschool opportunity structure and how minority community members' perceptions of dismal future opportunities influence their perceptions of and response to schooling. MINORITY EDUCATION, SCHOOL PERFORMANCE, MICROETHNOGRAPHY
We discuss the expectancy–value theory of motivation, focusing on an expectancy–value model developed and researched by Eccles, Wigfield, and their colleagues. Definitions of crucial constructs in the model, including ability beliefs, expectancies for success, and the components of subjective task values, are provided. These definitions are compared to those of related constructs, including self-efficacy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and interest. Research is reviewed dealing with two issues: (1) change in children's and adolescents' ability beliefs, expectancies for success, and subjective values, and (2) relations of children's and adolescents' ability-expectancy beliefs and subjective task values to their performance and choice of activities.
Australian immigration policy, in common with the US and Canada, has increased the emphasis on skill-based selection criteria. A key premise of this policy is that skilled immigrants are more employable and can add to the productive capacity of the economy. However, this effect will be diminished if immigrants are working in occupations that fail to utilise their skills. We examine the extent of overeducation for recently arrived immigrants to Australia. We find that they are more likely to be overeducated than the native population, even if they enter on skill assessed visas. Overeducation is greater for immigrants from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) and generates lower returns to education. Tighter restrictions to welfare support on entry raised employment levels but increased overeducation. This will serve to reduce the potential productivity gains from skill biased immigration policies.
Drawing from the International Comparative Study of Ethnocultural Youth (ICSEY) dataset, this paper examines the immigrant paradox phenomenon among a group of immigrant youth in five European countries. The sample consisted of over 2700 immigrant and 1400 national youth (age range 13 – 18 years) living in Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden. At the core of the immigrant paradox is the counterintuitive finding that immigrants often show better adaptation outcomes than their national peers in spite of poorer socioeconomic status. However, the paper argues for a more conservative position based on three criteria for concluding the existence of the paradox. On the bases of these criteria, the paper found mixed support for the immigrant paradox. Whereas the pattern of socio-cultural adaptation for first- and second-generation immigrants resembled the immigrant paradox, results for psychological adaptation were opposite to the paradox. Reasons for the mixed findings are discussed.
Current immigration research has revealed little about how immigrants compare to those who do not migrate. Although most scholars agree that migrants are not random samples of their home countries' populations, the direction and degree of educational selectivity is not fully understood. This study of 32 U.S. immigrant groups found that although nearly all immigrants are more educated than those who remain in their home countries, immigrants vary substantially in their degree of selectivity, depending upon the origin country and the timing of migration. Uncovering patterns of immigrant selectivity reveals the fallacy in attributing immigrants' characteristics to national groups as a whole and may help explain socioeconomic differences among immigrant groups in the United States.
Reciprocal effects models of longitudinal data show that academic self-concept is both a cause and an effect of achievement. In this study this model was extended to juxtapose self-concept with academic interest. Based on longitudinal data from 2 nationally representative samples of German 7th-grade students (Study 1: N = 5,649, M age = 13.4; Study 2: N = 2,264, M age = 13.7 years), prior self-concept significantly affected subsequent math interest, school grades, and standardized test scores, whereas prior math interest had only a small effect on subsequent math self-concept. Despite stereotypic gender differences in means, linkages relating these constructs were invariant over gender. These results demonstrate the positive effects of academic self-concept on a variety of academic outcomes and integrate self-concept with the developmental motivation literature.
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This paper assesses the role of selection criteria in the immigrant settlement process. Do skill-based immigrants have higher participation and employment rates than family-based immigrants? Does this represent a head start or a persistent labour market advantage? The Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia is used to address these questions. Generally, migrants selected for their skills have better labour market outcomes. Over time, the relative gap in participation rates increases, while the gap in employment rates decreases. Net of visa category, outcomes are better for native English speakers and for those who visited Australia prior to migration. Copyright 2000 by The Economic Society of Australia.