The Academic Achievement of Adolescents from Immigrant Families: The Roles of Family Background, Attitudes, and Behavior

• Published in: Child development Vol. 68; no. 2; pp. 351 - 363
• Main Author: Fuligni, Andrew J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, MA University of Chicago Press 01.04.1997; Blackwell; University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Achievement; Adolescent; Adolescent Attitudes; Adolescents; Asian Americans; Asian Cultural Groups; Aspirations (Psychology); Attitude; Attitudes; Biological and medical sciences; Child psychology; Culture and Environment; Educational Attainment; Educational psychology; Emigration and Immigration; Ethnicity; European Americans; European Cultural Groups; Factors; Families & family life; Family - psychology; Family Attitudes; Family Characteristics; Family Influence; Family Relations; Female; Filipino Americans; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; High school students; High schools; Hispanic Americans; Hispanics; Humans; Immigrants; Immigration; Internal-External Control; Latin American Cultural Groups; Male; Mathematics education; Motivation; Parent Attitudes; Parent Influence; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Parents & parenting; Peer Group; Peer Influence; Peer Relations; Peers; Psychology, Adolescent; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Pupil and student. Academic achievement and failure; Social Background; Social Support Groups; Socialization; Socioeconomic status; Student Attitudes; USA; Human; Social environment; Academic achievement; Peer relation; Socioeconomic status; Immigrant; Attitude; Parent; Academic ability; Progeny; Adolescent; Family environment; Social support
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.2307/1131854

The goal of this study was to determine the relative impact of family background, parental attitudes, peer support, and adolescents' own attitudes and behaviors on the academic achievement of students from immigrant families. Approximately 1,100 adolescents with Latino, East Asian, Filipino, and European backgrounds reported on their own academic attitudes and behaviors as well as those of their parents and peers. In addition, students' course grades were obtained from their official school records. Results indicated that first and second generation students received higher grades in mathematics and English than their peers from native families. Only a small portion of their success could be attributed to their socioeconomic background; a more significant correlate of their achievement was a strong emphasis on education that was shared by the students, their parents, and their peers. These demographic and psychosocial factors were also important in understanding the variation in academic performance among the immigrant students themselves.