Explaining the gap in educational achievement between second-generation immigrants and natives: the Italian case

Abstract

This article studies the determinants of the achievement gap between second-generation immigrants and natives in Italy, investigating the role played by economic resources, cultural-capital background, pupils' aspirations and ethnic school-segregation dynamics – the main factors emphasized in the literature. In addition, we verify to what extent second-generation status exerts an independent effect on early school performance, net of the abovementioned determinants. The Italian case is compared with those of France and Germany. As to the main results, we find that, in Italy, second-generation status per se is also a determinant; ethnic school-segregation dynamics and pupils' socio-economic background represent the most critical barriers. Similarly in Germany, the traditional determinants are not the only constraints faced by second-generation immigrants in achieving at least the same educational performance level as their native peers, suggesting that further analysis is needed. By contrast, in France, second-generation status has no residual effect on educational performance.