4 ms·

I don't think this observation--kids from immigrant parents tend to focus more on education--is limited to any particular race, but is a byproduct of the immigr

by riahi 18y ago

I don't think this observation--kids from immigrant parents tend to focus more on education--is limited to any particular race, but is a byproduct of the immigrants themselves. In order to leave their home countries, they had to have the personality characteristics which granted them escape. When coming from areas that are not easy to emigrate from, this is commonly through scholastic achievement. It certainly was the case with my father leaving Iran, and seems to be the case with the author of this piece. As such, the best students of a nation--whether they are from Nigeria, Iran, or China--come to America and instill the same values in their children, the values that got them to this country. Interestingly enough, these values seem almost universal. I've gotten the "don't chase women, let them chase you" speech so many times I can recite it, yet the more I hear it from children of other immigrants, the more I regard it as truth than just my father's pontifications. An interesting question would be to look at the children a few generations removed, to see if they continue the emphasis on education, or if they are swamped by American culture.

wheels 18y ago
This gets much more general: successful people almost always believe that their way to success is the best (or at least one of the best) ways to have gotten there. In fact, that's mostly what this site is about. ;-)
Alex3917 18y ago
"kids from immigrant parents tend to focus more on education" Or, more accurately, kids from voluntary immigrant parents tend to focus more on education. C.f. Voluntary and Involuntary Minorities: A Cultural-Ecological Theory of School Performance with Some Implications for Education. Ogbu himself is actually a Nigerian.
- hugh 18y ago
  Are there many people living today whose parents were involuntary immigrants?
  - baha_man 18y ago
    'The most popular destination for asylum seekers of all nationalities in 2007 was the US, with an estimated 49,200 new asylum claims' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7301985.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7301985.stm
    - hugh 18y ago
      Hmm, that would seem to make them involuntary emigrants rather than involuntary immigrants, but I see what you mean.
    - byrneseyeview 18y ago
      Jewish immigrants from the former USSR are extremely successful in the US, even though they weren't quite voluntary immigrants.
      - dangoldin 18y ago
        My family came over from the USSR in the late 80s and although I was too young to remember the details, my parents told me that the USSR did not make it easy to leave: they had to go through a whole slew of questions that tried to show that they were perfectly well off in the USSR and there was no persecution. Their story makes it seem to me that it would have taken a more than voluntary effort to leave the USSR, whether you were a Jew or not. As an aside, before the mass immigration of the Soviet Jewry there was a whole group of people called the Refuseniks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusenik http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusenik) which were denied the right to immigrate but were not allowed to go back to their jobs. There was a very good documentary made about them recently (http://www.refusenikmovie.com/ http://www.refusenikmovie.com/) that I recommend watching if you are interested in this topic.
    - riahi 18y ago
      That also brings up another question though, why are they being forced to emigrate? Could they be intelligent? Because of that aspect, could their views clash with the society they currently reside in? In many fascist nations, the intelligentsia are the first to be marginalized. Perhaps you could separate this out by motives for immigration to the US, but I think the point still stands that people who hold education dear to them will instill that value into their children.
- rw 18y ago
  I took a class recently on the sociology of education. We focused heavily on Ogbu -- he has done outstanding work that is worth a look from any layman.
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]

by riahi 18y ago

wheels 18y ago

This gets much more general: successful people almost always believe that their way to success is the best (or at least one of the best) ways to have gotten there. In fact, that's mostly what this site is about. ;-)

Alex3917 18y ago

"kids from immigrant parents tend to focus more on education" Or, more accurately, kids from voluntary immigrant parents tend to focus more on education. C.f. Voluntary and Involuntary Minorities: A Cultural-Ecological Theory of School Performance with Some Implications for Education. Ogbu himself is actually a Nigerian.

hugh 18y ago
Are there many people living today whose parents were involuntary immigrants?
- baha_man 18y ago
  'The most popular destination for asylum seekers of all nationalities in 2007 was the US, with an estimated 49,200 new asylum claims' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7301985.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7301985.stm
  - hugh 18y ago
    Hmm, that would seem to make them involuntary emigrants rather than involuntary immigrants, but I see what you mean.
  - byrneseyeview 18y ago
    Jewish immigrants from the former USSR are extremely successful in the US, even though they weren't quite voluntary immigrants.
    - dangoldin 18y ago
      My family came over from the USSR in the late 80s and although I was too young to remember the details, my parents told me that the USSR did not make it easy to leave: they had to go through a whole slew of questions that tried to show that they were perfectly well off in the USSR and there was no persecution. Their story makes it seem to me that it would have taken a more than voluntary effort to leave the USSR, whether you were a Jew or not. As an aside, before the mass immigration of the Soviet Jewry there was a whole group of people called the Refuseniks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusenik http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusenik) which were denied the right to immigrate but were not allowed to go back to their jobs. There was a very good documentary made about them recently (http://www.refusenikmovie.com/ http://www.refusenikmovie.com/) that I recommend watching if you are interested in this topic.
  - riahi 18y ago
    That also brings up another question though, why are they being forced to emigrate? Could they be intelligent? Because of that aspect, could their views clash with the society they currently reside in? In many fascist nations, the intelligentsia are the first to be marginalized. Perhaps you could separate this out by motives for immigration to the US, but I think the point still stands that people who hold education dear to them will instill that value into their children.
rw 18y ago
I took a class recently on the sociology of education. We focused heavily on Ogbu -- he has done outstanding work that is worth a look from any layman.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]