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The Educational System and the Ethnic Skills Gap among the Working-Age Population: An Analysis of 16 Western Immigration Countries

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  • Heisig, Jan Paul
  • Schaeffer, Merlin

Abstract

Research shows that children of immigrants, the “second generation,” have comparatively high educational aspirations. This “immigrant optimism” translates into ambitious educational choices, given the second generation’s level of academic performance. Choice-driven (comprehensive) education systems, which allow the children of immigrants to follow their ambitions, are therefore regarded as facilitating their structural integration. The authors focus on an underappreciated consequence of these findings. If the second generation strives for higher qualifications than children of native-born parents with similar performance, working-age children of immigrants should have lower skills than children of native-born parents with comparable formal education. This could result in (statistical) employer discrimination and ultimately hamper integration. This pattern should be particularly pronounced in choice-driven education systems and in systems that emphasize vocational education. Two-step regression models using data on 16 countries support these expectations. The authors explore implications of these findings for comparative research on ethnic gaps in labor market attainment.

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  • Heisig, Jan Paul & Schaeffer, Merlin, 2020. "The Educational System and the Ethnic Skills Gap among the Working-Age Population: An Analysis of 16 Western Immigration Countries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 6, pages 1-1.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:219313
    DOI: 10.1177/2378023120925717
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ariga, Kenn & Brunello, Giorgio, 2007. "Does Secondary School Tracking Affect Performance? Evidence from IALS," IZA Discussion Papers 2643, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Lewis, Jeffrey B. & Linzer, Drew A., 2005. "Estimating Regression Models in Which the Dependent Variable Is Based on Estimates," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 345-364.
    3. Giorgio Brunello & Daniele Checchi, 2007. "Does school tracking affect equality of opportunity? New international evidence [‘Educational opportunities and the role of institutions’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 22(52), pages 782-861.
    4. Heisig, Jan Paul & Schaeffer, Merlin, 2019. "Why You Should Always Include a Random Slope for the Lower-Level Variable Involved in a Cross-Level Interaction," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 258-279.
    5. Herman G. van de Werfhorst & Anthony Heath, 2019. "Selectivity of Migration and the Educational Disadvantages of Second-Generation Immigrants in Ten Host Societies," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(2), pages 347-378, May.
    6. Heisig, Jan Paul & Gesthuizen, Maurice & Solga, Heike, 2019. "Lack of skills or formal qualifications? New evidence on cross-country differences in the labor market disadvantage of less-educated adults," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 83, pages 1-20.
    7. Heisig, Jan Paul & Schaeffer, Merlin & Giesecke, Johannes, 2017. "The Costs of Simplicity: Why Multilevel Models May Benefit from Accounting for Cross-Cluster Differences in the Effects of Controls," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 82(4), pages 796-827.
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    Cited by:

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