Aspirations of Immigrant Children: a Study on Integration Policies and People's Tolerance

Abstract

Research has shown that educational opportunities do not distribute evenly in a country. Aspirations are internal constraints that will affect lifelong decisions of immigrant children. Studying the external determinants of aspirations can help understand whether immigrant children are provided with necessary support. This paper will study whether the integration policies of the host countries and the tolerance of their people correlate with immigrant children’s aspirations. The study will focus on countries in the European Union. Using longitudinal data from OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) at a regional level to measure immigrant children’s aspirations in specific countries, and indices from Eurostat to collect macro area level data, the paper hopes to provide a comprehensive analysis on these external impacts on aspirations, and thus, facilitate policy makers in assisting immigrant integration.