In a recent study by Statistics Canada, the influence of parental education and income on the educational success of young immigrants was investigated. The research also explored whether there were noteworthy disparities in these dynamics among immigrants from diverse source regions. Explore how parental education and income boost child immigrants education attainment.
A positive correlation between parental education and their children’s academic success exists, driven by several reasons. One important factor is that parents with greater levels of education tend to give their kids a positive view of education. Furthermore, children who grow up in families with highly educated parents frequently have higher expectations and aspirations for their own schooling.
This study used a sample of more than 100,000 immigrants who were born outside of the country as children. At the time of the 2016 Census, these immigrants ranged in age from 25 to 44 and had entered Canada at the age of 17 or less. In order to understand the association between parental education and the educational outcomes of immigrant children in this age range, the study narrowed its emphasis to this particular group of people.
Parental education and income boost child immigrants attainment – Study findings
Higher levels of parental education, especially when both parents had advanced degrees, clearly increased the likelihood that a child of an immigrant would earn a bachelor’s degree or higher.
For instance, the percentage of childhood immigrants who finished their degrees was 64% when their fathers had a college degree, which stands in stark contrast to the 33% completion rate among those whose fathers had only a high school diploma or less. When other factors were taken into account, it was found that immigrants of childhood were 15 percentage points more likely to earn a degree than those whose fathers had only a high school diploma or less. In regard to mothers’ education, a comparable effect was seen.
Additionally, the beneficial benefit more than doubled when both parents held degrees. After controlling for other significant factors, immigrants who immigrated as children were 27 percentage points more likely to obtain a degree than those who had both parents with only a high school education or less.
Second, there were some differences depending on where the immigrants originally came from. Notably, compared to families from Europe and English-speaking developed nations, the influence of parental education seems to be less prominent among immigrant families from East Asia and Southeast Asia. This regional variance showed that the influence of parental education on educational attainment varied based on the immigrant families’ home countries.
Educational impact of parental education
In the third observation, the relationship between parental education and children’s academic achievement appeared to be substantially less strong when we broadened our assessment to include trades or college degrees. The variation across source regions also significantly decreased. The study ascribed these developments to the fact that whereas immigrant families from other regions are more likely to consider alternate options like college or trade programs, many immigrant families from East and Southeast Asia prefer to emphasize university completion.
Additionally, the results of the study showed that family income in the first five years after moving to Canada had a little impact on the possibility that children immigrants would earn a degree or any other kind of postsecondary certification. Even after taking into consideration the level of parental education and other background factors, this conclusion remained valid.
The importance of the study’s findings
The study’s conclusions have significant policy ramifications. The practice in Canada of choosing highly educated immigrants is essential to preserving strong educational achievements in succeeding generations.
Including all postsecondary programs, including trade programs, highlights the variety of educational options available to immigrant children. The large regional variances highlight how the nation of origin might affect the skill sets brought to the labor market and the job categories in which immigrants of childhood compete.
Finally, for immigrant families, particularly those that have financial difficulties in the years immediately after immigration, the relatively small influence of family income is significant. Less wealthy families’ children’s educational outcomes are not much impacted.
