Do aspirations during upper school influence university enrollment of immigrants’ children?

Authors

  • Alessio Buonomo Università di Napoli Federico II
  • Cinzia Conti
  • Giuseppe Gabrielli
  • Fabio Massimo Rottino
  • Salvatore Strozza

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71014/sieds.v79i2.328

Abstract

Educational aspirations play a central role in determining students’ possible educational trajectories. A few scholarly researches have explored the comparison between aspirations and achievements due to the longitudinal nature of the information required. This contribution aims to fill this gap by using record linkage techniques and proposes to measure the role of students’ educational aspirations during their upper school attendance in achieving their (subsequent) actual university attendance in Italy. First, the information from the 2015 ISTAT survey on “Integration of Second Generations (ISG)” were used to describe upper school students’ educational aspirations by citizenship. Second, the record linkage of ISG dataset with the administrative data on university students, from the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR), makes possible to analyse the role of individual aspirations on actual achievement in terms of university attendance. Results showed that the aspiration to pursue tertiary education positively impact on the final decision to attend tertiary education. However, the percentage of foreign students, who have post-upper school aspiration toward tertiary education and subsequently actually university attendance, is significantly lower than the same percentage for Italians. The results associated to the age at arrival do not indicate a definite trend when considering the aspiration to go to university. Conversely, when considering the likelihood of students’ university attendance, the older the student is on arrival, the lower the probability of enrolling in university.

References

ALBA R.D., SLOAN J., SPERLING, J. 2011. The integration imperative: The children of low-status immigrants in the schools of wealthy societies, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 37, pp. 395-415. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-081309-150219

BERRY J.W. 2005. Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures, International journal of intercultural relations, Vol. 29, No. 6, pp. 697-712. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.07.013

BUCHMANN C., DALTON B. 2002. Interpersonal influences and educational aspirations in 12 countries: The importance of institutional context, Sociology of education, Vol. 75, pp. 99-122. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3090287

BUONOMO A., CONTI G., GABRIELLI G., ROTTINO F.M. 2023. La transizione scuola-università degli alunni di origine straniera: un primo approccio esplorativo. In: FELLINI I., STROZZA S., VITTORIA A. (Eds.) Gli immigrati in Italia: tessere di una realtà in cambiamento, Special Issue, La Rivista delle Politiche Sociali, Vol. 1, No. gen-mar, pp. 57-71.

BUONOMO A., GABRIELLI G., GARGIULO G., ORIENTALE-CAPUTO G. 2024. Lyceum and university aspirations among migrants and non-migrants in Italy, British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 50, No.3, pp. 1208-1228. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3970

CASACCHIA, O., CAPUTI, M., GALLO, G., NATALE, L. 2023. I percorsi degli studenti universitari internazionali e non: un’analisi degli immatricolati nel 2016. In MOCARELLI, ONGARO (Eds.) Condizioni di vita e diseguaglianze, SIDeS, pp. 115-126.

CONTI C., PRATI S. (Eds.) 2020. Identità e percorsi di integrazione delle seconde generazioni in Italia, Roma: Istat.

CONTI C., DI BARTOLOMEO A., ROTTINO F.M., STROZZA S. 2013. Second Generation and Educational Attainment. In: ISTAT, MINISTERO DELL’INTERNO (Eds.), Integration. Knowing, Measuring, Evaluating, Rubbettino: Soveria Mannelli.

GABRIELLI G., IMPICCIATORE R. 2022. Breaking down the barriers: educational paths, labour market outcomes and wellbeing of children of immigrants, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 48, No. 10, pp. 2305-2323. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2021.1935655

HADJAR A., SCHARF J. 2019. The Value of Education Among Immigrants and non-Immigrants and how this Translates into Educational Aspirations: a Comparison of four European Countries, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 45, No. 5, pp. 711-734. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2018.1433025

HEATH A.F., BRINBAUM Y. 2014. Unequal Attainments. Ethnic Educational Inequalities in ten western countries, Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197265741.001.0001

KAO G., TIENDA M. 1998. Educational Aspiration of Minority Youth, American Journal of Education, Vol. 106, No. 3, pp. 349-384. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/444188

MARTIN A.J., MARSH H.W., MCINERNEY D.M., GREEN J., DOWSON M. 2007. Getting along with teachers and parents: The yields of good relationships for students’ achievement motivation and self-esteem, Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 109-125. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1375/ajgc.17.2.109

MIUR. Anni vari. Alunni con cittadinanza non italiana, Roma: Ministero dell’Istruzione - Ufficio di Statistica.

MIYAMOTO A., SEURING J., KRISTEN C. 2018. Immigrant students’ achievements in light of their educational aspirations and academic motivation, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol. 7, pp. 1348-1370. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2018.1538772

RUMBAUT R.G. 2004. Ages, life stages, and generational cohorts: Decomposing the immigrant first and second generations in the United States, International Migration Review, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 1160–1205. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2004.tb00232.x

SALIKUTLUK Z. 2016. Why Do Immigrant Students Aim High? Explaining the Aspiration-Achievement Paradox of Immigrants in Germany. European Sociological Review, Vol. 32, No. 5, pp. 581-592. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcw004

ST CLAIR R., BENJAMIN A. 2011. Performing desires: The dilemma of aspirations and educational attainment, British educational research journal, Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 501-517. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01411926.2010.481358

STROZZA S. 2015. L’inserimento scolastico dei figli degli immigrati: una questione aperta, Rivista delle Politiche Sociali, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 127-146.

STROZZA S., BUONOMO A., MUCCITELLI P., SPIZZICHINO D., CASACCHIA O., GABRIELLI G. 2018. I giovani stranieri e la scuola, In: PEREZ M. (Ed.) Vita e percorsi di integrazione degli immigrati in Italia, Roma: Istituto nazionale di statistica, pp. 193-218.

STROZZA S., CONTI C., TUCCI E. 2021, Nuovi cittadini. Diventare italiani nell’era della globalizzazione, Bologna: il Mulino.

WIGFIELD A., ECCLES J.S. 2000. Expectancy-value theory of motivation, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Vol. 25, pp. 68-81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1015

Downloads

Published

2025-02-28

Issue

Section

Articles