Jaap Dronkers a & Nils Kornder a a Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market,

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3 Compare, 2015 Vol. 45, No. 4, , Can gender differences in educational performance of 15-year-old migrant pupils be explained by societal gender equality in origin and destination countries? Jaap Dronkers* and Nils Kornder Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands In this paper, we attempt to explain the differences between reading and math scores of migrants children (8430 daughters and 8526 sons) in 17 OECD destination countries, coming from 45 origin countries or regions, using PISA 2009 data. In addition to the societal gender equality levels of the origin and destination countries (the gender empowerment measure), we use macro indicators of the origin countries educational systems, economic development and religions. We find that migrant daughters from countries with higher gender equality levels obtain higher reading scores than comparable migrant sons do (but this is not the case for math scores). In addition, the higher the gender equality levels in the destination countries, the lower the reading and math scores of both male and female migrants children in their destination countries. Further analyses suggest it is the difference between gender equality levels, rather than the levels themselves, that explains the educational performance of both female and male migrant pupils. Our results also show the low gender equality level in Islamic origin countries offers a possible explanation for the low educational performance of Islamic pupils, both male and female. Finally, migrants daughters seem to perform slightly better educationally, compared with migrants sons. Keywords: gender differences; migrant pupils; origin and destination countries; cross-national comparison; educational performance 1. Introduction Overall, migrant children s educational position is well documented, but far less systematic documentation exists concerning the educational position of, and differences between, the genders in relation to characteristics of their country or region of origin. While Levels and Dronkers (2008) studied that relation, they neglected migrant children s educational performance. Although successive papers with PISA 2003 data (Levels, Dronkers, and *Corresponding author. j.dronkers@maastrichtuniversity.nl 2014 British Association for International and Comparative Education

4 Compare 611 Kraaykamp 2008) and PISA 2006 data (Dronkers and de Heus 2013, 2014) carried out far more sophisticated analyses by including macro features of the origin and destination countries, possible gender differences between the educational performance of migrants children continued to be ignored. In addition, other researchers of such children s educational performance ignored possible differences between male and female pupils from different origin countries (OECD 2006, 2012) or ignored the possibility of deviant gender differences in educational performance for migrant pupils (Guiso et al. 2008; Marks 2007). Only recently has a group of researchers started to address these differences (Fleischmann and Kristen forthcoming), but they could use only national data for their cross-national analysis, thus limiting comparisons. This paper s research question asks: Can gender differences in the educational performance of migrant pupils be explained by the societal gender equality in their origin and destination countries? Our analysis replaces the origin and destination countries with an indicator for societal gender equality, the gender empowerment measure (GEM), which explains gender variation in migrant children s educational performance better than poverty and traditionalism. We also include other macro indicators for levels of development, educational opportunity structure and dominant religions of the origin countries to validate societal gender equality s effects. 2. Multiple origins and destinations Since migration is intrinsically a transnational phenomenon, it should be studied accordingly (Portes 1999). Migrant parents and children from various origin countries move to various destination countries. Therefore, instead of relying on observations of multiple-origin groups in a single destination or single-origin groups in multiple destinations, our analyses simultaneously compare multiple origins in multiple destinations. Because this design disentangles the effects of the country characteristics from which migrants come (origin effects) and those of the country characteristics to which they migrate (destination effects), it is extremely useful in gaining insight into factors influencing migrant outcomes, such as educational performance. This paper applies this double-comparative perspective, based on a multilevel approach, as developed by Van Tubergen, Maas, and Flap (2004). This would seem to be the obvious choice to use in obtaining a correct analysis of migrant outcomes and a workable policy but, unfortunately, that is not the result, for influential reports by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on migrant pupils using PISA data (OECD 2006, 2012) ignore the available origin of migrants.

5 612 J. Dronkers and N. Kornder 3. Societal gender equality and male and female migrant pupils educational outcomes Gender variation in educational performance is a classic topic in the educational sciences. The educational system s expansion and the gradual abolishment of gender barriers in educational careers during the twentieth century ought to have abolished such variations but, instead, has resulted in a trend of female advantages in secondary education in OECD countries (for overviews, see Buchmann, DiPrete, and McDaniel 2008; Van Langen 2005). Yet the strength of these gender variations in educational performance is not equal across OECD countries. Moreover, gender variation in educational performance is also domain specific: girls do far better in reading, while boys still score higher in math (Marks 2007). Considerable research has sought to explain cross-national gender variations in reading and math scores (Guiso et al. 2008; Van Langen 2005). However, since a review of this line of research is outside the scope of this paper, we simply refer to the above-mentioned overviews. It is important to note, though, that cross-national gender variation in educational performance seems unrelated to the levels of poverty and traditionalism of the OECD countries. Similar gender variation exists in the educational performance of migrants children (OECD 2006, 2012), but until our work, this crossnational gender variation has been little analysed and is only descriptive. Moreover, the description of gender variation in the educational performance of migrants children is mostly limited to single-country studies (Abada and Tenkorang 2009), which do not always include it in native pupils educational performance (Feliciano and Rumbaut 2005). Consequently, non-descriptive studies on cross-national gender variation in educational performance are scarce. We know only of Fleischmann and Kristen s (forthcoming) study, which uses national data for a cross-national analysis of four indicators of male and female migrant children s educational performance. Although a large number of alternative speculative hypotheses can be formulated, based on policymakers assumptions about educational performance differences between migrant sons and daughters, we restrict ourselves to two simple hypotheses that assume female educational performance will be associated with a more equal gender balance found in their origin and destination societies. The (in)equality in opportunities and resources between the two sexes within a country may better predict gender variation in educational performance than levels of either poverty or traditionalism of that country. Gender relations are not only influenced by origin countries poverty and traditionalism but also can be related to these societies cultures and religions. Therefore, we focus on societal gender equality in origin and destination countries to explain the gender variation in educational performance.

6 Compare Effect of societal gender equality in origin countries on female educational performance The majority of migrants to OECD countries move from societies with less gender equality to societies with a more equal power balance between the sexes. Girls in societies with less gender equality have fewer educational opportunities compared with their brothers. The reasons for this unequal gender power balance include religious and cultural traditions, as well as the belief that educational investments in boys are more profitable for parents in these societies than the same ones made for girls (Fuligni, Tseng, and Lam 1999). Moreover, this lesser gender equality of female migrant pupils origin societies can further limit their educational performance due to more obligations at home and pressure for an early marriage. Parents who have migrated socialise their children, thus the parents origin countries gender norms will influence their children s, even if the offspring are born in the destination country. Therefore, we formulate Hypothesis 1: The greater the gender equality in the origin country, the higher the educational performance of migrant daughters compared with that of migrant sons The effect of societal gender equality in destination countries on female educational performance Daughters of migrants from origin societies with lesser gender equality can use their destination societies greater educational opportunities to escape the male bias of their origin societies religious and cultural traditions (Abada and Tenkorang 2009) and therefore perform at a higher educational level. Greater gender inequality in the origin country is related to closer supervision and stricter parental monitoring of daughters, due to their value as virgins in the marriage market. This overseeing of their daughters behaviour, compared with that of migrant sons, can also strengthen migrant daughters discipline to a greater degree, thus positively affecting their educational opportunities in destination countries that offer more gender equality (Feliciano and Rumbaut 2005; Zhou and Bankston 2001). Therefore, we formulate Hypothesis 2: Migrant daughters educational performance in destination countries with greater gender equality is higher compared with migrant sons. 4. Data and variables 4.1. PISA 2009 Since 2000, the OECD has conducted large-scale, tri-annual tests among 15-year-olds living in its member and partner states to assess pupils mathematical, reading and scientific literacy. This paper uses the PISA wave of 2009 (OECD 2010).

7 614 J. Dronkers and N. Kornder We focus on reading abilities (the dependent variable), the focus of the PISA 2009 wave, but use the math test as well to determine whether we can generalise our results. For each pupil, we averaged the five plausible values for math and reading to calculate a composite score. The composite scores were standardised using an average of 500 and a standard deviation of 100 for all OECD pupils (native and non-native). To account for the variance between these five plausible values, we also computed their standard error. Tables 1 and 2 show the reading and math test scores for male and female migrants, respectively, differentiated by countries or region of origin and destination Pupils origin country and migrant status Because specific information on the country of birth for both pupil and parents is necessary to determine the pupil s country of origin, destination countries that did not allow sufficient specificity in birth countries were omitted. Among destination countries that did provide enough variety in birth country options to be included in our analysis, the answer categories differed strongly. Therefore, data from only 17 of all OECD countries were useful for the analysis (we deleted Turkey, because it had fewer than 50 male and female migrant pupils with a known origin country, and Mexico, because it is an outlier in many aspects). All OECD destination countries with relevant information about the countries of birth are given in Table 1. To determine a pupil s country of origin, several decision rules were used, based upon the pupil s and both parents birth countries. 2 To capture as many respondents as possible, we also included aggregate origin areas or combinations of countries that were sufficiently specific as origin countries for the purpose of this analysis. In total, using decision rules to identify pupils origin countries and migrant status yields a final sample of 8430 female and 8526 male migrant pupils originating from 45 different origin countries and regions (see Table 2 for a full list of all origin countries and regions) (Kornder and Dronkers 2012) The dependent variable The 2009 PISA wave focuses on reading literacy but also contains a smaller scale for math literacy. Table 1 reports reading and math scores and number of cases of male and female migrants in all available OECD destination countries. Table 2 shows reading and math scores and number of cases of male and female migrants in all origin countries and regions. Both Tables 1 and 2 show sufficient cross-destination and cross-origin variation in both male and female migrant pupils educational performance for further combined multilevel analysis with a double comparative perspective.

8 Compare 615 Table 1. Reading and math scores of migrant male and female pupils by country of destination (with means, standard deviations and numbers of male and female pupils). Male Female Reading Math Reading Math Australia Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Finland Germany Greece Israel Liechtenstein Luxembourg Netherlands New Zealand Norway (Continued)

9 616 J. Dronkers and N. Kornder Table 1. (Continued). Male Female Reading Math Reading Math Portugal Scotland Switzerland Total Source: Own computation of PISA wave 2009 data (weighted by destination) Individual-level variables Table 3 summarises all relevant micro and macro variables, including the minimum and maximum scores and the mean and standard deviation for pupils with a migration background and a known origin country or area. Pupils with at least one parent born in a country different from the destination country were identified as migrants. Migrant pupils were classified as first generation (reference category) when they were born outside the destination country and as second generation when at least one of their parents was born abroad. This distinction between first- and second-generation migrants deviates from that of Portes and Rumbaut (2001), who classify migrant generation status based on age upon arrival in the destination country. However, we believe this distinction is cross-nationally clearer and less likely to underestimate pre-school socialisation s importance. Migrant pupils whose generation could not be determined were taken into account by creating a missing generation dummy variable. Given that we use PISA data concerning 15-year-old migrant pupils, it is probable that about half of the first generation of migrant pupils arrived before their sixth year in their destination country. Unfortunately, PISA 2009 does not provide age of arrival. Using PISA 2006 data, however, Song and Robert (2010) reported that 21% arrive when they are between 0 and 1 year old, 28% arrive between 2 and 5 years old, 26% between 6 and 10 years old, and 25% between 11 and 15 years old. The majority of these 15-year-old pupils received most of their formal schooling exclusively in the destination country. Moreover, Dronkers and de Heus (2013, 2014) and Song and Robert (2010) showed that adding this variable does not substantially change the other variables coefficients.

10 Compare 617 Table 2. Reading and math scores of migrant male and female pupils by country or region of origin (with means, standard deviations and numbers of male and female pupils). Male Female Reading Math Reading Math Afghanistan Albania Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Cape Verde China Congo Czech and Slovak Republics Denmark Ethiopia France Germany (Continued)

11 618 J. Dronkers and N. Kornder Table 2. (Continued). Male Female Reading Math Reading Math Greece India Iraq and Iran Italy Korea Lebanon Liechtenstein Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Zealand Pakistan and Bangladesh Philippines Poland Portugal Romania (Continued)

12 Compare 619 Table 2. (Continued). Male Female Reading Math Reading Math Samoa Somalia South Africa Spain Suriname Sweden Switzerland Turkey UK USA Vietnam African country with Portuguese as the official language Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia One of the former USSR republics (Continued)

13 620 J. Dronkers and N. Kornder Table 2. (Continued). Male Female Reading Math Reading Math One of the former Yugoslav republics Arabic region (including the Middle East) Total Source: Own computation of PISA wave 2009 data (weighted by destination country). The dummy variable official language of destination country spoken at home distinguishes between migrant children who speak one of their destination country s official languages at home and those who speak a foreign language. A language missing dummy variable was also created. We use a number of additional variables to account for migrant pupils social and cultural status. First, we control for pupils parental environment by using the index of the economic, social and cultural status of the parents (ESCS). This variable represents a composite index created in the PISA data-set of the parents occupational status (Ganzeboom et al. 1992), the parents educational level (UNESCO 2006) and the presence of any material or cultural resources in the pupils homes. This combination of the parents occupational status and educational level, together with resources at home, produces the strongest indicator of parental environment (OECD 2010). The ESCS score was standardised such that the OECD average was set to zero. Second, we controlled for family structure s effects on scholastic performance. Since a previous analysis revealed that migrant pupils from singleparent families perform worse, on average, than pupils with two parents (Dronkers and de Lange 2012), we include a nuclear family dummy variable that measures whether children live in two-parent households. Those pupils with other family structures are the reference group. Third, we included a dummy variable labelled one parent born in destination country to identify pupils with one migrant and one native-born parent. Pupils with two non-native parents represent the reference group. This is a way of controlling for the effects of having a presumably stronger relation with the destination country s society and culture when one parent is a native. A corresponding mixed marriage missing dummy variable was introduced to compare pupils for whom one parent s birth country was missing with pupils for whom both parents are non-native.

14 Compare 621 Table 3. Descriptive statistics. Minimum Maximum Mean SD Individual Female Weight Reading test Math test Measured error of math test Measured error of reading test One parent born in destination country Missing value dummy one parent country of birth Parental ESCS missing Parental ESCS score Nuclear family Migrant 1st generation same language Migrant 1st generation not same language Migrant 1st generation missing language Migrant 2nd generation same language Migrant 2nd generation not same language Migrant 2nd generation language missing Origin country or region GEM HDI YCE EYS Latin Christian Eastern Orthodox Non-religious Hindu Mixed religion Islam Country of destination Average native reading score destination countries Average native math score destination countries GEM Source: Own computation of PISA wave 2009 data (weighted by destination country). Notes: ESCS = economic, social and cultural status; GEM = gender empowerment measure; HDI = human development index; YCE = years of compulsory education; EYS = expected years of schooling Gender equality macro variable 3 The GEM evaluates women s participation and decision-making ability in political and economic forums. Ranging from 0 to 100, it combines variables such as women s share of parliamentary seats and ministerial positions, as well as managerial, senior official and legislative jobs; their

15 622 J. Dronkers and N. Kornder share of technical and professional jobs; and gender income differences. This variable was centred on its grand mean for the multilevel analyses. We added a GEM score for both origin and destination countries Educational opportunity macro variables Years of compulsory education (YCE) The YCE variable refers to the duration of compulsory schooling in origin countries. On average, for all origin countries and areas in our data, pupils are obliged to attend school for nine years. The mandatory length of schooling varies considerably among origin countries, ranging from 4 to 12 years. This variable was centred on its grand mean for the multilevel analyses Expected years of schooling (EYS) The EYS variable represents the expected number of years a child of school entrance age will spend in school and university, including grade repetitions, when current enrolment patterns in all educational levels (primary, secondary, post-secondary, non-tertiary and tertiary) remain the same. This variable was centred on its grand mean for the multilevel analyses Societal macro variables Human development index (HDI) A country s economic development level was gauged by its HDI. Ranging from 0 to 100, the HDI combines national information on people s life expectancies, adult literacy rates, gross enrolment ratios in primary, secondary and tertiary education and gross domestic product (GDP). This variable was centred on its grand mean for the multilevel analyses Religion To account for origin countries religious backgrounds, dummy variables were created to indicate whether or not at least 40% of the countries inhabitants are Latin Christian, Eastern Orthodox, Hindu or Islamic. Countries in which no religious denomination has the support of at least 40% of the population are classified as non-religious. Similarly, if two religious groups are represented by at least 40% of the population, the country is regarded as mixed Native reading or math score of the destination country We use one additional macro indicator for the destination countries: the native reading or math score. This indicator is the average PISA score of the total native male or female population. This variable serves to approximate the quality of the destination country s educational system.

16 Compare Methods Using individual-level techniques on data with multiple levels will underestimate the standard errors of the macro-level effects, which can produce misleading results, such as parameters that appear to be significant (Raudenbush and Bryk 2002; Snijders and Bosker 1999). Cross-classified multilevel regression analyses are appropriate for analysing non-hierarchically structured data. We used iterative, generalised least squares estimation techniques from the multilevel programme MLwiN to estimate the models. Although originally designed to fit hierarchical models, the iterative, generalised least squares approach can also be adapted to non-hierarchical data structures. At the lowest level, we include the standard error of the reading or math test as an error term of the equation. 6. Results for reading scores Table 4 shows the results from the multilevel analyses for migrant children s reading scores. Section 6.1. presents a model without the gender equality score to ensure the results are not caused by individual characteristics, because the latter are always the most powerful explanation of educational performance variance, for all children, regardless of migration status. Sections 6.2. to 6.4. discuss the effects of the GEM score on educational performance, as assumed by our hypotheses. Sections 6.5. and 6.6. introduce additional control variables at the macro level to ensure gender equality s effects are not affected by these macro characteristics Individual characteristics The first model includes migrant pupils gender and individual characteristics. We added two interactions, between gender and nuclear family as well as between gender and second-generation same language, because in additional analyses only these two interactions are significant. Second-generation female pupils who speak the destination-country language at home have only slightly higher reading scores than comparable second-generation male pupils do. A nuclear family has a positive effect on the reading scores of both migrant sons and daughters, but it is stronger for males than for females, resulting in a seven-point difference. The gender parameter is positive, implying that female migrant pupils have a reading score nearly 44 points higher than male migrant pupils do, which is slightly higher than the difference in the reading scores between female and male native pupils (37 points) Gender equality in origin countries We add the origin country s GEM and its interaction with gender in the second model. This addition hardly affects the independent variables

17 624 J. Dronkers and N. Kornder Table 4. Effects of gender, individual characteristics and the GEM of the origin and destination countries on the reading scores of the children of migrants (error terms in parenthesis). Model 1: Individual + native average Model 2: 1 + GEM origin + female*gem Model 3: 1 + GEM destination + female*gem Model 4: 1 + GEM destination + origin + female*gem Model 5: 4 + HDI, YCS, YCE origin Model 6: 4 + religion Individual Female 43.73** (2.85) 44.14** (2.85) 44.72** (2.85) 44.12** (2.85) 44.12** (2.85) 44.23** (2.85) One parent born in 5.60** (1.68) 5.10** (1.68) 5.62** (1.68) 5.08** (1.68) 5.02** (1.68) 5.32** (1.68) destination country Missing country of birth of one parent 0.60 (2.49) 0.27 (2.50) 0.67 (2.49) 0.33 (2.50) 0.29 (2.50) 0.42 (2.49) Parental ESCS score 27.27** (0.71) 27.20** (0.71) 27.29** (0.71) 27.22** (0.71) 27.21** (0.71) 27.15** (0.71) Missing parental ESCS 58.31** (5.35) 58.31** (5.35) 58.23** (5.35) 58.21** (5.35) 58.23** (5.35) 57.97** (5.35) score Nuclear family 18.00** (2.09) 18.00** (2.09) 18.00** (2.09) 18.00** (2.09) 18.01** (2.09) 18.15** (2.09) Nuclear family*female 6.79** (2.92) 6.89** (2.92) 6.77** (2.92) 6.86** (2.92) 6.87** (2.92) 6.93** (2.92) 1st generation not same 28.49** (2.64) 28.04** (2.65) 28.49** (2.64) 28.00** (2.65) 27.95** (2.65) 29.03** (2.65) language 1st generation missing 59.67** (4.21) 59.29** (4.21) 59.68** (4.21) 59.68** (4.21) 59.23** (4.21) 59.72** (4.21) language 2nd generation same 5.92** (2.45) 6.52** (2.46) 5.95** (2.45) 6.58** (2.45) 6.57** (2.46) 6.27** (2.46) language 2nd generation same 5.26** (2.42) 5.97** (2.44) 5.98** (2.44) 5.26** (2.42) 5.95** (2.44) 6.03** (2.44) language*female 2nd generation not same 11.01** (2.52) 10.68** (2.52) 10.98** (2.52) 10.63** (2.52) 10.62** (2.52) 11.28** (2.52) language 2nd generation language 45.96** (3.07) 45.58** (3.07) 45.95** (3.06) 45.54** (3.07) 45.52** (3.07) 46.02** (3.06) missing Destination country Average native reading score 0.45 (0.32) 0.36 (0.31) 1.13** (0.42) 1.07** (0.40) 1.02** (0.41) 0.72** (0.32) GEM destination 1.61** (0.78) 1.64** (0.75) 1.58** (0.75) 0.90 (0.61) GEM 0.06 (0.20) 0.10 (0.20) 0.10 (0.20) 0.10 (0.20) destination*female

18 Compare 625 Origin country GEM origin 0.35** (0.14) 0.36** (0.14) 0.32 (0.21) 0.39** (0.17) GEM origin*female 0.14** (0.07) 0.14** (0.07) 0.14** (0.07) 0.15** (0.07) HDI 0.15 (0.31) YCE 1.18 (1.74) EYS 0.85 (1.45) Eastern Orthodox 8.98 (7.95) Non-religious 47.04** (8.36) Hindu 50.10** (16.48) Mixed religion 6.84 (8.87) Islam (8.12) Constant (163.72) (157.13) (211.91) (202.36) (205.59) (163.28) Variances Destination * (159.40) * (147.68) (110.40) (102.74) (106.43) (61.67) Origin ** (83.45) ** (73.88) ** (83.72) ** (73.24) ** (71.45) ** (46.03) Pupils ** ( ) ** ( ) ** ( ) ** ( ) ** ( ) ** ( ) Test (*1000) 0.001** (0.000) 0.002** (0.000) 0.002** (0.000) 0.002** (0.000) 0.002** (0.000) 0.002** (0.000) Log likelihood 205, , , , , ,611 Source:Own computation with PISA 2009 data, with equal weights for destination countries. Notes: * = p <.05; ** = p <.01; First-generation migrant with the same language as the destination country is the reference category; Latin Christian is the reference category; Centred grand mean; ESCS = economic, social and cultural status; GEM = gender empowerment measure; HDI = human development index; YCE = years of compulsory education; EYS = expected years of schooling.

19 626 J. Dronkers and N. Kornder parameters, which were already included in the previous model. The effect of the origin country s GEM is significant for male migrant pupils and the interaction between this variable and gender is also significant, supporting our first hypothesis. But the positive main effect means male pupils from origin countries with higher gender equality levels also perform better than comparable male pupils do from origin countries with lower gender equality levels Gender equality in destination countries In model 3, we replace the origin GEM scores and their interaction with gender with the equivalent variables using the destination countries GEM scores. The destination country s GEM effect is significant but negative and equal for both male and female migrant pupils, because its interaction with gender is insignificant. This finding contradicts our second hypothesis: the higher the gender equality level in the destination country, the higher the migrant daughters educational performance, compared with that of migrant sons. This addition hardly affects the independent variables parameters, which were already included in model 1, with one exception: the average native reading score s effect becomes significant and positive. This finding suggests that educational quality in the destination country is important for migrant pupils educational performance, while a higher gender equality level in the destination country seems to harm their performance. An analogous equation, but without the average native reading score (not shown here), still produces a negative but hardly significant effect of the destination country s GEM, while the interaction effect between the destination country s GEM and being female remains small and insignificant Gender equality in both origin and destination countries Model 4 contains gender equality indicators for both origin and destination countries. They are moderately correlated and their inclusion hardly changes the early models results. Thus, the first hypothesis is supported, while the second one is rejected Gender equality and other macro characteristics of origin countries Model 5 adds three other macro characteristics of the origin countries that can explain gender equality s positive effect in these countries: HDI, YCE and EYS. Adding these three indicators, however, changes gender equality s positive effect in the origin countries, because its parameter becomes insignificant. However, the assumed positive effect of the interaction variable GEM origin * Female remains significant. None of the added indicators has a significant effect, as long as the origin country s GEM score is included

20 Compare 627 in model 5 s equation. The same holds for their interaction terms with gender. If we delete the GEM scores from the equation, the origin country s HDI, YCE and EYS effects become positive and significant. 4 This implies that gender empowerment is a better predictor of origin countries developmental level than more traditional indicators are, such as HDI Religion and gender equality Gender relations are not only related to educational opportunities and quality of life in the origin country but also are partly influenced by religious norms and attitudes. Origin countries with Latin Christianity as their dominant religion have high GEM scores, while origin countries with Islam as their dominant religion have low GEM scores. Although origin countries religions and GEM scores are highly correlated, the correlations are not too strong for misspecification. 5 To obtain model 6, we add the origin country s dominant religion to model 4 to test whether significant effects of the GEM of either origin or destination countries can be partially explained by religious factors. Adding the dominant religion does not change the origin country s GEM effect, and the effect of the interaction term GEM origin * Female remains significant. The destination country s GEM effect becomes smaller and insignificant. Thus, the different religious compositions of migrants to destination countries with different gender equality levels can explain the unexpected negative effect of the destination country s GEM score. None of the interaction terms of religion and gender is significant. Thus, the first hypothesis remains supported, while the second one must be rejected. We also have estimated a model that includes pupils individual characteristics and the dominant religion, and their interaction terms with gender. Omitting gender equality indicators increases the dominant religion s parameters, compared with those of model 6. The negative effects of Islam and Eastern Orthodox become stronger and significant, while the positive effect of Hinduism diminishes. This finding suggests that some parts of the negative effects of Islam and Eastern Orthodox on both male and female pupils educational performance are related to their religious values and norms concerning women s unequal position in society. This result also suggests that female and male Hindu pupils could achieve even higher educational performances if their religious and caste values and norms regarding women s position in society were more equal. 7. Math score results We created analogous multilevel analyses, but with math scores as the dependent variable. It is important to test our hypotheses for math scores, because native male pupils score higher on the math test than native female pupils do, while native female pupils have higher reading scores than native male pupils. 6

21 628 J. Dronkers and N. Kornder Our first hypothesis is only partly true if we use math scores as a performance indicator. Controlling for other societal macro indicators and their interaction with gender, only in model 5 does the interaction term between the GEM origin and female become significant. Thus, although math scores provide some support for the first hypothesis, reading as the educational performance indicator provides far more. Our second hypothesis is also rejected if math scores are the educational performance indicator. The interaction term between the GEM destination and female is never significant in any of the models. 8. Conclusion Using PISA 2009 data, we analyse the educational performance of year-old daughters and year-old sons in destination OECD countries across Europe and Oceania. We distinguish 45 origin countries or regions and 17 OECD destination countries. We use several macro indicators for both origin and destination countries relating to their gender equality levels, educational systems, economic development and religions Gender equality in the origin country Our first hypothesis assumes that the greater the gender equality in the origin country, the higher the migrant daughters educational performance compared with that of migrant sons. This is true for reading but only partially so for math. Migrant daughters coming from countries with higher gender equality levels demonstrate higher reading scores than comparable migrant sons do, but this is not necessarily true for math scores. The deviation may be explained by the different meanings of language and math for boys and girls and that good math performance might be less contradictory with traditional male gender roles than good reading performance is perceived to be (Van Langen 2005). Another explanation may be that learning a language relates more to the family and thus more to the origin country and its gender norm, while learning math is more related to the destination countries current school milieus and thus less to the destination country s gender roles (Buchmann, DiPrete, and McDaniel 2008) Gender equality in destination countries Our second hypothesis that migrant daughters educational performance in a destination country with a higher gender equality level is higher compared with migrant sons in the same destination country is not supported by our results, for either reading or math. We find that the higher the gender equality level in the destination country, the lower the educational performance of both male and female migrant children in the destination country. We assumed a

22 Compare 629 positive effect for the GEM only for the female migrant pupils and no negative effect with the same strength for both male and female migrant pupils. This negative effect of the destination country s GEM on migrant pupils performance cannot be fully explained by the GEM score s lower variance for destination countries (see Table 3), because the latter increases the chance of insignificant parameters but not the chance of significant negative parameters. This negative effect of the destination country s GEM cannot be explained by the educational background of those migrating to destination countries with high GEM scores because our equations control for the parents socioeconomic background (including education), along with other economic and cultural macro characteristics of the origin countries. A more plausible explanation for this unexpected result may be that parents who migrate to societies with higher gender equality levels feel themselves at a greater distance from these alien, more liberal societies and thus are less able to supervise and monitor their children (Van Tubergen, Maas, and Flap 2004). A consequence of less effective parental supervision and monitoring is a lower level of discipline for both their sons and daughters. We tried to make this distance explanation plausible through an additional analysis that replaces the GEM of the origin or destination country in model 4 by the difference in the GEM scores of the origin and destination countries (results available from the first author). The distance in the GEM scores between the origin and destination countries seems to be the best explanatory variable, while the GEM scores for the origin and destination countries separately add little to the equation. In other words, it is not the discrete gender equality levels in the origin and destination countries that provide the most relevant explanation for the educational performance differences between female and male migrant pupils but, rather, the difference between them. Given the large variation in origin countries GEM scores compared with those of destination countries (see Table 3), this difference is mainly dependent on the GEM of origin Religion as a factor in the educational performance of migrant sons and daughters As shown in Table 4, gender equality level in the origin country is not the sole explanation for the educational differences between female and male migrant pupils. The dominant religion of the origin countries is also a significant factor (see also Van Tubergen, Maas, and Flap 2004). Educational performance is higher for migrant children coming from origin countries without a dominant religion or with Hinduism as its dominant religion, compared with migrants coming from countries with Latin Christianity as the dominant religion. These outcomes are controlled for gender equality in the origin and destination countries, in addition to individual characteristics, such as parental background and migration generation. There are no

23 630 J. Dronkers and N. Kornder differential effects of dominant religion on either migrant daughters or sons, as long as we control for gender equality in the origin countries Gender equality as an explanation of religion s effect on educational performance The origin country s gender equality level explains the dominant religion s important effects. In a model without a control for gender equality, Islam has a significant negative effect on male pupils educational performance and an even stronger effect on the reading scores of female migrant pupils from Islamic countries. In addition, migrant children from Eastern Orthodox countries also score lower than do migrant children from Latin Christian countries. Without control for societal gender equality, the positive effect of migrants children coming from origin countries with Hinduism as the dominant religion is smaller. The same holds for migrant pupils from origin countries without a dominant religion, although the difference is smaller. These results show that the unequal gender norm in the Islamic countries offers a valid explanation for the low educational performance of both male and female migrant pupils from countries with Islam as the dominant religion. Male and female pupils from Hindu countries might perform even better educationally if the gender and caste norms and values of Hinduism were more egalitarian (Lum 2011). Religion need not be a black box of cultural phenomena, its various aspects can be analysed (gender equality, economic values, authority) and their importance in adherents behaviour estimated Gender equality as a powerful indicator The GEM which combines variables such as women s share of parliamentary seats and ministerial positions, as well as managerial, senior official and legislative jobs; their share of technical and professional jobs; and gender income differences seems to be a powerful macro predictor of educational performance, not only of female but also of male pupils (see also Guiso et al. 2008). The origin country s gender equality level seems to be a substantial macro indicator for its educational development, irrespective of other, broader macro indicators, such as the HDI, or more specialised indicators, such as YCE. This finding is quite remarkable and requires further study. A possible explanation of the GEM index s strength is that for a contemporary society, gender balance may function as a more realistic indicator of its modernity and openness than do life expectancies, literacy rates, enrolment in primary, secondary and tertiary education, or GDP. It is important to note the origin country s societal gender equality affects not only the educational performance of migrants daughters but also that of migrants sons. Gender equality is relevant for the educational opportunities of not just women but both sexes. The explanation may be

24 Compare 631 that migrants sons from countries with low gender equality levels still pursue traditional gender roles and norms (e.g. a strong emphasis on honour and physical masculinity) that contradict their destination countries modern gender norms and roles (e.g. cooperation and negotiation). This conflict between what migrants experienced as gender norms in their origin countries and surrounding gender norms and roles in the destination countries may be detrimental to their educational performance Superior female educational performance Our results also suggest migrants daughters perform better educationally, compared with migrants sons. Female migrant pupils have reading scores nearly 44 points higher than comparable male migrant pupils do, which is 7 points more than the difference in the reading scores between female and male native pupils (37 points). Migrant boys post higher math scores than comparable migrant girls do (by 8 points), which is 6 points less than the 14-point difference between native male and female pupils math scores. Although a female advantage of 6 to 7 points is not much, it is still substantial and fascinating. Possible explanations for this advantage of female migrants include the higher second-language processing abilities of females (Payne and Lynn 2011) and the human preference for patrilocality, with males staying in their natal groups, while females migrate (Ember and Ember 1985; Fox 1967), which may have given female migrants greater adaptability to new social environments Caveats To provide more robust tests of hypotheses concerning educational system effects, information from a greater number of OECD destination countries is necessary. Given the importance of migrant children s success in education, it is unfortunate that OECD destination countries such as Canada, France, England, the USA and Sweden do not collect and make available the information needed for such an analysis, which limits our sample s comparability strength to some extent. However, our results for a restricted number of OECD countries can be considered representative of all OECD countries. In a yet unpublished analysis (Dronkers and Korthals 2014), we compared migrant pupils educational performance in OECD countries with and without detailed information about their parents and their own birth countries. We found the strength of relevant variables, such as parental background, migrant generation and home language, was the same in both groups of OECD countries, suggesting the forced selection of OECD countries in our analysis does not bias our results when compared with all OECD countries. The results may be different for non-oecd countries, such as China or Latin American countries (Dronkers and Kornder 2014), as destination