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Educational attainment of children of immigrants: Evidence from the national longitudinal survey of youth

Author

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  • Siahaan, Freddy
  • Lee, Daniel Y.
  • Kalist, David E.

Abstract

This study investigates the educational attainment of children of immigrants in the United States. By employing a more detailed classification of children of immigrants, we examine whether a foreign place of birth of either parent or child affects the child's educational attainment. Our results indicate that the full-second generation (U.S.-born children with both foreign-born parents) achieves the highest educational attainment, while the full-first generation (foreign-born children with both foreign-born parents) achieves the second highest educational attainment compared to the other groups of children of immigrants and native children. Full-first and full-second generation females also achieve higher educational attainment than their native female peers. The results support the optimism theory of assimilation in which the educational attainment of children of immigrants relies on the combination of their foreign-born parents’ strong values on education and the children's English proficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Siahaan, Freddy & Lee, Daniel Y. & Kalist, David E., 2014. "Educational attainment of children of immigrants: Evidence from the national longitudinal survey of youth," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 1-8.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:38:y:2014:i:c:p:1-8
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.10.001
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    Cited by:

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    2. Gabin Langevin & David Masclet & Fabien Moizeau & Emmanuel Peterle, 2017. "Ethnic gaps in educational attainment and labor-market outcomes: evidence from France," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 84-111, January.
    3. Mitzi K. Lauderdale & Stuart J. Heckman, 2017. "Family Background and Higher Education Attainment Among Children of Immigrants," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 327-337, September.
    4. Chiara Zisler & Damiano Pregaldini & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2023. "Opening doors for immigrants: The importance of occupational and workplace-based cultural skills for successful labor market entry," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0204, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational attainment; Children of immigrants; Full-first generation; Full-second generation; Theory of optimism assimilation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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