Integration through Education? Aspirations, Experiences, and Opportunities among two second generation.

Utilizing mixed methods, this paper aims to compare the educational aspirations, experiences and perceptions of children of immigrants in France and the United States in order to understand the educational inequalities and opportunities for social mobility and integration for the second generation in both countries. We focus on children from the largest two immigrant groups in France and the US: North Africans and Mexicans respectively. Both groups share low socio-economic resources. Despite the differences between the educational systems in both countries, the comparison of the educational attainment of North African and Mexican second generation in France and in the US shows similar trends. In both sides of the Atlantic, children of immigrants from these groups are more disadvantaged in school. They are more likely to leave the educational system without any degree than natives and they are less likely to get a high school diploma. The results of our regression models indicate the important role played by class in the reproduction of educational inequalities between members of the two second generations and their native peers. Our analysis demonstrates that despite the high levels of aspirations shared by members of the two immigrant groups, school experiences limit their advancement into higher education. Socialization into a working class culture among Mexican Americans that stresses the value of early work and financial independence and perceived experiences of discrimination through tracking among French North Africans hamper the aspirations of the two second generations to pursue higher education and thus contribute to the lower educational levels observed in the two groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]