Abstract:

This paper analyzes the determinants of educational attainment among immigrants in Spain and their degree of intergenerational educational mobility compared to Spanish individuals. The EU-SILC survey of 2011, which includes a module on intergenerational transmission of poverty, is used as a source of information. This module allows identifying the educational attainment of parents and comparing it with the educational attainment of their children. To analyze the determinants of educational attainment, a maximum likelihood estimation is used taking into account variables related to the individual, his/her family and his/her environment. The study of intergenerational mobility is based on three widely used techniques in the literature: correlation, regression and transition matrices. With respect to educational attainment, the estimation indicates that immigrant status has a negative effect on educational attainment. In addition, the educational level of immigrants is closely related to the educational level of their mothers and the economic situation of the home where they grew up. Educational mobility is high in all the groups observed, but is very different according to gender. Men have similar indicators regardless of their place of birth, while immigrant women have less mobility than Spanish women.

Reference:

Granell, R.; Fuenmayor, A.; Mediavilla, M. (2018): La inmigración y el género como factores clave de la movilidad educativa en España, Papers-Revista de Sociología, 103, pp. 51-73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/papers.2311