Educational Trajectories and Transition to Employment of the Second Generation

This chapter examines the key stages in the diverse educational trajectories of immigrants’ descendants and DOM native-borns in the French educational system, up to their entry into working life. Several indicators of educational trajectory or status are analysed, distinguishing systematically between males and females, and taking account of the national origins of immigrants’ descendants: repeated years at primary school, tracks followed at upper secondary level, early school leaving, likelihood of obtaining a high-school diploma, failure in higher education. The results reveal inequalities in academic trajectories and achievement by ethnic background and gender, and show that these inequalities do not always reflect differences in social capital and family environment. In the male population especially, we cannot rule out the hypothesis that certain categories of immigrants’ descendants are exposed to discrimination in schools. The chapter ends with an analysis of transition from education to employment (time taken to find a job, experience of unemployment, job market integration, etc.) that reveals a segmentation of the entry into working life by country of origin. The sons, but also the daughters of immigrants from North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and Turkey have greater difficulties finding a first job

Explaining ethnic inequalities in educational attainment

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Ethnic differences in early school-leaving

In this chapter we study the differences between ethnic groups in early school-leaving in six of the countries: England and Wales, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the USA. We find sizeable gross differences in early school-leaving between the majority group and some, but far from all, ethnic minority groups, mainly to the disadvantage of minorities. Most differences disappear when we compare those with similar social origins, however, and once we also control for educational performance (grades, or test results) a substantially important disadvantage remains for only one minority group out of the 42 we study. In particular, except for those from the Middle East, Asian minority groups have very high continuation rates into upper secondary education. There is little evidence to suggest that there is any intrinsic or cultural ethnic disadvantage that discourages minority students from staying on in school, or that discrimination or unfair treatment pushes them out