Effects of Immigrant Parents' Participation in Society on Their Children's School Performance

Abstract

Integration of ethnic minorities into society is often operationalized as participation in various societal institutions. Examples are cultural, political and labour participation. On the basis of the theoretical concepts of social and cultural capital as proposed by sociologists Bourdieu and Coleman, it is often hypothesized that greater parental participation in society will generally lead to a better educational position for the children of such parents. To test this hypothesis, descriptive and multi-level analyses were conducted using data from the Dutch cohort study Primary Education. The sample included information on nearly 11,000 kindergarten students (6-year-olds) from almost 600 primary schools. In the analyses, ethnic minority parents and their children were compared to native Dutch parents and their children. After controlling for parental socio-economic and ethnic background, the results showed an effect of cultural participation only on language and mathematics skills. No effects on non-cognitive outcomes, such as social position, individual well-being or self-confidence, were found.

Researching race/ethnicity and educational inequality in the Netherlands: A critical review of the research literature between 1980 and 2008

“…From 1995 onwards, and in line with the approach employed by some qualitative or ethnographic studies, quantitative researchers in the Netherlands started to investigate the relationship between social class and/or ethnic differences in educational achievement and differential access to or activation of various forms of 'social' and 'cultural' capital (Kalmijn & Kraaykamp, 1996;Van Veen et al, 1998;De Graaf et al, 2000;Driessen, 2000a;Kraaykamp, 2001;Driessen et al, 2005;Driessen & Smit, 2007). This line of research seems to be inspired by Coleman's legacy on social capital (Coleman, 1966(Coleman, , 1987(Coleman, , 1999(Coleman, [1988) and an increasing interest in US educational research on Bourdieu's theory of cultural reproduction and concept of cultural capital (DiMaggio, 1979(DiMaggio, , 1982Lamont & Lareau, 1988;Lareau 1999Lareau [1987).…”

Vocational Anticipatory Socialization (VAS): A Communicative Model of Adolescents’ Interests in STEM

“…Students with more supportive parents and enthusiastic teachers who are better at explaining topics are in an advantageous situation: They have people to guide them in interpreting how their educational exposures contribute to their career choices (Driessen & Smit, 2007).…”

Análisis de las características de la formación de familiares con colectivos vulnerables

“…Little Village Lawndale High School en Chicago es otro ejemplo de ello (Díez-Palomar & Kanes, 2012;Gutstein, 2007Gutstein, , 2006SOJO, 2011). Este tipo de ejemplos, y otros muchos, muestran que la participación de las familias mejora las oportunidades de los niños y de las niñas, tal y como confirman los resultados de diversos estudios en el ámbito (Boethel, 2004;Desforges, 2003;Driessen & Smit, 2007;Epstein et al, 2002). Esto ocurre cuando la participación y las oportunidades para participar son verdaderamente democráticas, porque, de hecho, no toda forma de participación produce los mismos efectos (Peressini, 1998).…”