Ethnicity, Migration, and Educational Achievement: A Comparison across Educational Levels Eleonora Vlach (eleonora.vlach@unitn.it) School of Social Sciences - University of Trento GK-SOCLIFE - Universität zu Köln ECSR_MITO Spring School 23 rd 27 th March 2015
Structure of the presentation Introduction to the Italian context Previous research on the immigrant-native gap Research Hypothesis Data and Variables Empirical results Conclusion
1961 1971 1981 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Migrants in Italy from 1961 to today 6.500.000 6.000.000 5.500.000 5.000.000 4.500.000 4.000.000 3.500.000 3.000.000 2.500.000 2.000.000 1.500.000 1.000.000 500.000 0 Source: own elaboration on data from ISTAT Serie Storiche, ISTAT Italia in Cifre, and Demo ISTAT
The Italian context Incidence of migrants on the total population 2012 (percentage values) LU CY LV EE AT ES BE IE DE EL UK IT SE DK FR MT NL PT SI CZ FI HU SK LT BG RO PL Source: Eurostat, Demography reported in Istat 2014, Noi Italia. 100 statistiche per capire il Paese in cui viviamo
Countries of origins of Italian immigrants (2013) First 5 nationalities Romania 21,3% Albania 10,6% Morocco 9,7% China 5,1% Ukraine 4,4% Other nationalities (>2%) Philippines 3,2% Moldavia 3,2% India 2,9% Peru 2,3% Bangladesh 2,1% Poland 2,0% Tunisia 2,0% Source: own elaboration on data from ISTAT Immigrati.Stat
Incidence of foreign students by educational level 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Primary Lower Secondary Uppper Secondary ISCED 1 ISCED 2 ISCED 3 Source: own elaboration on data from MIUR 2008 Alunni con Cittadinanza Non Italiana - Scuole statali e non statali. Anno scolastico 2006-2007, and MIUR 2014 Gli alunni stranieri nel sistema scolastico Italiano. As. 2013/14.
Previous studies on the Italian case Immigrants shows lower occupational outcomes than natives (Reyneri and Fullin 2008, Fullin 2011) Children of immigrants shows lower educational outcomes than natives (ISMU-MIUR 2014 and 2015) Lower scholastic grades Higher propensity of grade repetition Over represented in less prestigious fields of study Explanation of the achievement gap Social origins composition hypothesis (Heath & Brinbaum 2014) Residual gap cultural explanations Language spoken at home (Azzolini et.al. 2012) Parental educational styles (Dalla Zuanna et.al. 2009, Barban & Dalla Zuanna 2010) Other non-individual factors (classroom climate)
Previous studies on the Italian case: Relied mainly on comparisons between same-age students Assumed the gap (and its generative factors) as constant throughout the educational career Relied mainly on the distinction between natives, first generation and second generation immigrants Do not account for the heterogeneity of children of migrants Do not allow to disentangle the effect of migration from the one of socialization
Differences between educational stages H1a: The achievement gap between immigrants and natives will decline as the educational career progresses. H1b: The higher the educational level, the lower the differences in the competences will depend on individual/family characteristics, and the higher they will depend on contextual variables.
Decomposition of immigrant generation H2.a: Since migration is a traumatic experience, it negatively affects educational skills regardless of the specific individual s country of origin. H2.b: As the number of years spent in the host country increases, immigrants school performances will be less and less different from those of natives. H2.c: The higher the distance between the immigrant parents country of origin, the greater the extent to which immigrant students ethnicity will negatively affect their educational achievement.
Italian system of education 3 6 11 14 19 Isced 1 Isced 2 Isced 3 Pre-primary education (Isced 0 voluntary <6 years) First cycle of mandatory schooling Primary education (Isced 1 6-11 years) Lower secondary education (Isced 2 11-14 years) Upper secondary education (Isced 3 14-19 years) Education compulsory until 16 Horizontal differentiation Tertiary education (Isced 5 3+2 system)
Data INVALSI 2012/13 data (Italian National Institute for the Evaluation of the Educational and Training System) II and V year of primary education + I year of lower secondary education All students enrolled Cheating coefficient Assumptions for inference Hierarchical structure Allows hierarchical models Information for the local level (provinces)
INVALSI 2012/13 data Beginning of Primary Edu. End of Primary Edu. Beginning of Lower Sec. Linguistic tests Provinces 107 107 107 Schools 6,929 6,887 5,704 Classrooms 27,677 27,812 24,734 Individuals 447,697 418,267 427,915 Logic/Mathematical tests Provinces 107 107 107 Schools 6,944 6,907 5,696 Classrooms 27,912 28,092 24,671 Individuals 449,187 432,891 426,733
Dependent variables: Variables Linguistic & Logic/Mathematical tests scores Main Independent variables: Immigrant generational status (native / 1 gen /2 gen) Migration experience Socialization (years spent in Italy) Ethnicity (area of birth of mother and father) Individual level controls: Social origins Higher parental education Higher parental occupation Sex, schooling experience Classroom level controls: Size of classroom, share of children of immigrants, share of children of manual workers and children of unemployed parents School level controls: Share of children of immigrants, share of children of manual workers and a school location in a highly urbanized administrative centre Local context level controls: Provincial employment rate and percapita income, share of immigrants on the provincial population and geographic area
Decomposition of the differences in test scores (random intercept model null models) Beginning of Primary Edu. End of Primary Edu. Beginning of Lower Sec. Linguistic tests Local context 0.30 % 1.73 % 3.42 % School 5.82 % 4.26 % 4.26 % Classroom 11.68 % 6.74 % 3.85 % Individual 82.20 % 87.27 % 88.47 % Total Variance 1,663 1,490 1,531 Logic/Mathematical test Local context 0.26 % 2.25 % 5.97 % School 7.41 % 5.67 % 3.96 % Classroom 13.83 % 10.64 % 3.17 % Individual 77.67 % 81.10 % 82.53 % Total Variance 1,649 1,485 1,464
Beginning Low. second. Ending Primary Beginning Primary The effect of the Generational Status (random intercept model Linguistic Competencies) 1G biv. 2G biv. 1G +SO 2G +SO 1G full 2G full 1G biv. 2G biv. 1G +SO 2G +SO 1G full 2G full 1G biv. 2G biv. 1G +SO 2G +SO 1G full 2G full -35-33 -31-29 -27-25 -23-21 -19-17 -15-13 -11-9 -7-5 -3-1 Linguistic competencies
Beginning Low. second. Ending Primary Beginning Primary 1G biv. 2G biv. 1G +SO 2G +SO 1G full 2G full 1G biv. 2G biv. 1G +SO 2G +SO 1G full 2G full 1G biv. 2G biv. 1G +SO 2G +SO 1G full 2G full The effect of the Generational Status (random intercept model Linguistic Competencies) Gross gap Net of SO Full model -35-33 -31-29 -27-25 -23-21 -19-17 -15-13 -11-9 -7-5 -3-1 Linguistic competencies
Beginning Low. second. Ending Primary Beginning Primary The effect of the Generational Status (random intercept model Logic/Mathematical Competencies) 1G biv. 2G biv. 1G +SO 2G +SO 1G full 2G full 1G biv. 2G biv. 1G +SO 2G +SO 1G full 2G full 1G biv. 2G biv. 1G +SO 2G +SO 1G full 2G full -35-33 -31-29 -27-25 -23-21 -19-17 -15-13 -11-9 -7-5 -3-1
Effect of migration and socialization (random intercept model full models) Beginning of Primary Edu. End of Primary Edu. Beginning of Lower Sec. Linguistic tests Migration 0,492-4,791*** - 7,491*** Years in Italy 0,318 5,420*** 6,497*** (Years in Italy) 2 0,165*** - 0,278*** - 0,356*** Controls: Individual: mother place of birth, father place of birth, schooling experience, sex, parental higher education, parental higher occupational. Classroom: size, share of children of immigrants, children of manual workers and of unemployed parents. School: share of children of immigrants, children of manual workers and a school location in administrative centre. Local context: provincial employment rate and per-capita income, share of immigrants on the provincial population and geographic area.
Beg. Low. Second. Mother Ending Primary Beginning Primary Effect of ethnicity of Linguistic Competencies (random intercept model) Father place of birth Mother place of birth European Union European Union Europe non EU Europe non EU extra Eu extra Eu European Union European Union Europe non EU extra Eu Europe non EU extra Eu European Union Europe non EU European Union Europe non EU extra Eu extra Eu -12-10 -8-6 -4-2 0 2 4 Italian -12-10 -8-6 -4-2 0 2 4 Italian Controls: Individual: migration experience, years spent in Italy (plus years^2), schooling experience, sex, parental higher education, parental higher occupational. Classroom: size, share of children of immigrants, children of manual workers and of unemployed parents. School: share of children of immigrants, children of manual workers and a school location in administrative centre. Local context: provincial employment rate and per-capita income, share of immigrants on the provincial population and geographic area.
Beg. Low. Second. Mother Ending Primary Beginning Primary Effect of ethnicity of Linguistic Competencies (random intercept model) European Union Father place of birth European Union Mother place of birth Romania Europe non EU Europe non EU extra Eu European Union Europe non EU extra Eu European Union Europe non EU Albania, Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo extra Eu extra Eu European Union Europe non EU European Union Europe non EU Morocco, China, Ukraine, Philippines extra Eu extra Eu -12-10 -8-6 -4-2 0 2 4 Italian -12-10 -8-6 -4-2 0 2 4 Italian Controls: Individual: migration experience, years spent in Italy (plus years^2), schooling experience, sex, parental higher education, parental higher occupational. Classroom: size, share of children of immigrants, children of manual workers and of unemployed parents. School: share of children of immigrants, children of manual workers and a school location in administrative centre. Local context: provincial employment rate and per-capita income, share of immigrants on the provincial population and geographic area.
Conclusions (1) H1a: Non constant immigrant/native gap throughout the schooling career No with the traditional specification o immigrant generation Less clear when this effect is disentangled in its three dimensions H1b: Increasing effect of contextual factors throughout the schooling career No with respect to individual characteristics But: growing importance of higher level contexts
Conclusions (2) H2a: Migration negatively affects achievements Yes, but only as the schooling career progresses H2b: Socialization positively affects achievements Yes, but only as the schooling career progresses H2c: Ethnicity negatively achievements influence Yes, especially as the cultural distance increase Yes, especially the father country of birth
ECSR_MITO Spring School 23 rd 27 th March 2015 Thank you for your attention! Eleonora Vlach eleonora.vlach@unitn.it