The Children of Immigrants at School: A Comparative Look at Integration in the United States and Western Europe

Alba, Richard

ISBN 10: 0814760252 / ISBN 13: 9780814760253

Published by New York University Press, 2013

About this Item

2013. Paperback. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780814760253

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Children of Immigrants at School: A Comparative Look at Integration in the United States and Western Europe
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0814760252
• ISBN 13: 9780814760253
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The Children of Immigrants at School explores the 21st-century consequences of immigration through an examination of how the so-called second generation is faring educationally in six countries: France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United States. In this insightful volume, Richard Alba and Jennifer Holdaway bring together a team of renowned social science researchers from around the globe to compare the educational achievements of children from low-status immigrant groups to those of mainstream populations in these countries, asking what we can learn from one system that can be usefully applied in another.





Working from the results of a five-year, multi-national study, the contributors to The Children of Immigrants at School ultimately conclude that educational processes do, in fact, play a part in creating unequal status for immigrant groups in these societies. In most countries, the youth coming from the most numerous immigrant populations lag substantially behind their mainstream peers, implying that they will not be able to integrate economically and civically as traditional mainstream populations shrink. Despite this fact, the comparisons highlight features of each system that hinder the educational advance of immigrant-origin children, allowing the contributors to identify a number of policy solutions to help fix the problem. A comprehensive look at a growing global issue, The Children of Immigrants at School represents a major achievement in the fields of education and immigration studies.

About the Authors

Richard Alba is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at City University of New York and is the author of many books, including (with Victor Nee) Remaking the American Mainstream: Assimilation and Contemporary Immigration and Ethnic Identity: The Transformation of White America.

Jennifer Holdaway is a Program Director at the Social Science Research Council, where her work has focused on migration and its interaction with processes of social change and stratification.