Students' Occupational Aspirations: Can Family Relationships Account for Differences Between Immigrant and Socioeconomic Groups?

Stephanie M Plenty,Jan O Jonsson

doi:10.1111/cdev.13378

Stephanie M Plenty, Jan O Jonsson

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13378

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Abstract

Immigrant background and disadvantaged socioeconomic background are two key predictors of poorer school achievement in Europe. However, the former is associated with higher while the latter is associated with lower aspirations. This study asks whether family relationships account for this difference. Data come from 5,926 students in Germany and Sweden, eliciting indicators of family background and relationships at age 14–15 years (2011) and occupational aspirations 1 year later. High aspirations were found among students of non‐European background and students with higher parental occupational status. Structural equation models showed that while immigrant families had greater parental aspirations and encouragement, family cohesion, and parental monitoring, only parental aspirations mediated the effects of family background.

Highlights

Immigrant background and disadvantaged socioeconomic background are two key predictors of poorer school achievement in Europe
How can we account for this difference in educational choices according to immigrant and socioeconomic background? What is it about immigrant families that compensate for lower grades and instead promote aspirations? This study focuses on family relationships as a potential mechanism for making sense of this empirical anomaly, and occupational aspirations as an indicator of “immigrant optimism” (Kao & Tienda, 1995) that drives higher educational attainment
Positive correlations were observed among family relationships and occupational aspirations, with parental aspirations showing the strongest correlation with youth’s occupational aspirations (r = .41), followed by family cohesion (r = .16) and parental encouragement (r = .15)

Summary

Introduction

Immigrant background and disadvantaged socioeconomic background are two key predictors of poorer school achievement in Europe. The former is associated with higher while the latter is associated with lower aspirations. Disadvantaged students (e.g., lower parental education or occupational status) make, on average, less ambitious educational choices at given levels of performance than children from more privileged backgrounds (e.g., Jackson, 2013). This study focuses on family relationships as a potential mechanism for making sense of this empirical anomaly, and occupational aspirations as an indicator of “immigrant optimism” (Kao & Tienda, 1995) that drives higher educational attainment. Supple, & Plunkett, 2008), suggests that non-material parental support in terms of family relationships may play a vital role in explaining the high aspirations of immigrant youth

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