Tackling the remaining attainment gap between students with and without immigrant background: an investigation into the equivalence of SES constructs

In England, students with immigrant background exhibit lower educational attainment than those without immigrant background. Family socioeconomic status (SES) helps explain differences in educational attainment, but a gap remains that differs in size for students with different immigrant backgrounds...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEducational research and evaluation Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 60 - 83
Main Authors Lenkeit, Jenny, Caro, Daniel H., Strand, Steve
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 02.01.2015
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Academic Achievement
Achievement Gap
construct equivalence
Cultural Capital
Educational Attainment
educational attainment gap
England
Equal Education
ESEM
Families & family life
Family Characteristics
family SES
Foreign Countries
immigrant background
Immigrants
Longitudinal Studies
Noncitizens
Social Capital
Socioeconomic factors
Socioeconomic Status
Structural Equation Models
Variables
United Kingdom (England)
United Kingdom > UK
England
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Summary:In England, students with immigrant background exhibit lower educational attainment than those without immigrant background. Family socioeconomic status (SES) helps explain differences in educational attainment, but a gap remains that differs in size for students with different immigrant backgrounds. While the explanatory repertoire for the remaining gap is broad, it has been neglected to comprehensively investigate whether family SES constructs are equivalent across students with different immigrant backgrounds. Using data from the first wave of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU) for England (n = 4,315), the paper applies exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) to evaluate measurement invariance of family background constructs across students without and with immigrant background, specifically Pakistani/Bangladeshi immigrant background. Results suggest differences in the structure of family SES indicators across groups and in their association with educational attainment. Complementary variables are suggested to enhance family SES indicators. Findings are relevant to researchers investigating educational inequalities related to immigrant background.
ISSN:1380-3611
1744-4187
DOI:10.1080/13803611.2015.1009915