Migrant Generations and Success in Education

Dear Colleagues,

In many European countries, young people with a migration background are underrepresented in academic tracks in secondary education and in higher education, run a higher risk of being delayed in their educational trajectories or leave school without an educational qualification (Crul, 2013; Verhaeghe, Bradt, Van Houtte and Derluyn, 2017). This further adds to and shapes the view that migrant groups and their descendants are not successful in education. This could lead to the development of (oppositional) collective academic identities, impact the development of aspirations and shape one’s identity formation (Ogbu, 2008).

This is especially problematic since the definitions of being categorised as successful in education are relative in nature and depend on the evaluation criteria and reference groups used. Therefore, the labelling of ‘successful’ or ‘failing’ is in many cases ambiguous. This may be due to labelling processes themselves. For young people with a migration background, performing well academically seems not to be enough to be labelled ‘successful’: the racialised, classed and gendered discourses about success render it impossible to reach ‘success’ (Archer, 2008).

Furthermore, the terms ‘successful’ and ‘unsuccessful’ are not straightforward. First, the very notion of success is often determined in a very narrow sense, precisely by only referring to academic performance. Additionally, these labelling processes and discourses reinforce existing negative stereotypes, such as the lower status given to vocational education tracks. Although some students have performed well and reached ‘success’, the trajectories of many of them have been termed ‘unsuccessful’. Finally, it seems that the racialised, classed and gendered discourses about success play out differently in different migrant generations (Verhaeghe et al., 2017). For example, depending on their generational status, young minority people tend to refer to reference groups in the country of origin or in the receiving country (Van Praag, 2015).

In this Special Issue, we welcome contributions that explore conceptualisations of educational success from an inter- or multigenerational perspective in Europe. We aim to get a better understanding of how success is defined by whom and the underlying processes and factors that help to shape these conceptualisations of success across migrant generations and European contexts.

Recommended Reference:

Archer, L. (2008). The Impossibility of Minority Ethnic Educational ‘Success’? An Examination of the Discourses of Teachers and Pupils in British Secondary Schools. European Educational Research Journal, 7(1), 89-107. doi:10.2304/eerj.2008.7.1.89

Crul, M. (2013). Snakes and Ladders in Educational Systems: Access to Higher Education for Second-Generation Turks in Europe. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 39(9), 1383-1401. doi:10.1080/1369183x.2013.815388

Ogbu, J. U. (Ed.) (2008). Minority status, oppositional culture, & schooling. Routledge.

Van Praag, L., Stevens, P. A. J., & Van Houtte, M. (2015). Defining success in education: Exploring the frames of reference used by different voluntary migrant groups in Belgium. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 49, 1-12. doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.06.007

Verhaeghe, F., Bradt, L., Van Houtte, M., & Derluyn, I. (2017). Structural assimilation in young first-, second-and third-generation migrants in Flanders. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 40(15), 2728-2748. doi:10.1080/01419870.2016.1260750

Dr. Floor Verhaeghe
Dr. Lore Van Praag
Prof. Dr. Peter Stevens
Guest Editors

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