The Role of Social Ties of Immigrant Parents in Determining their Children's School Success
Open Access
- Author:
- Sil, Susmita
- Graduate Program:
- Educational Theory and Policy
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 12, 2009
- Committee Members:
- Dr Suet Ling Pong, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Dr Suet Ling Pong, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Jonna Marie Kulikowich, Committee Member
Katerina Bodovski, Committee Member
David Post, Committee Member
Leif Jensen, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Immigrant Parents
Social Capital/ Ties
School Success - Abstract:
- This study examines the impact of intra- and extra-country social ties of immigrant parents on the academic performance of their children as measured in terms of grade point averages (GPA). Intra-country ties are defined in this research as social ties of immigrant parents with their compatriots; while extra-country social ties are formed outside compatriot communities. Social ties are examined in the contexts of parents’ workplaces, neighborhoods, and within their socializing patterns. This research also examines whether there is variation across parental countries of origin and across schools with differing compositions of students as regards the relationship between social ties of immigrant parents and their children’s GPA. Finally, this study examines whether the parents’ social ties affect their children’s GPA through their participation in Parent-Teacher Organizations (PTO) or school activities. Social capital theoretical perspective is used to examine these research questions. Data from the second wave (1995) and parental survey of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS), Common Core of Data (CCD), and Private School Universe Survey (PSS) for the school year 1995-96 were analyzed for the purposes of this study. This study is based in the cities of San Diego in California and Miami/ Ft. Lauderdale areas in Florida. Analyses revealed that not all types of intra- and extra-country social ties of parents were equally beneficial for children’s GPA. While intra-country ties in parental socializing patterns were associated with higher GPAs for their children, intra-country ties within neighborhoods could be associated with lower GPAs. Furthermore, a mixture of intra- and extra-country ties in socializing patterns was found to be most helpful for positively impacting children’s academic performance. Differences in the relationship between parental social ties and children’s GPA were observed across parental countries of origin, as well as across schools with different student body compositions. Parents’ socializing ties were found to have less effect on children’s GPAs when they attended schools characterized by medium White and low to medium Hispanic students than when they attended schools with a majority of Hispanic students.