title: Educational achievement of immigrant adolescents in Spain: do gender and region of origin matter?
abstract: This study explores the educational achievement of immigrant youth in Spain employing data from 3 waves of the Longitudinal Study of Families and Childhood (Pànel de Famílies i Infància), a representative sample of children in Catalonia first interviewed at ages 13-16 in 2006 (N = 2,710). Results suggest consistent disadvantage in achievement among first-generation students. Differences in achievement between the second and third generations are apparent in bivariate analyses, but are explained by observable characteristics in multivariate analyses. Gender-specific analyses uncover a large achievement gap between first-generation girls and their third-generation counterparts, but no equivalent gap for boys. Region-of-origin differences are modest, with the exception of Latin American adolescents who exhibit the lowest educational outcomes. The significance of perceptions about school on achievement are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue,Tampa, FL 33620, USA. evaquera@usf.edu
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vaquera
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kao
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D004522:Educational Status; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D013030:Spain