The Effect of Immigrant Generation Status and Sibling Structure on Educational Expectations among 12th Graders in U.S. High Schools

Haruna M. Fukui, Arizona State University

This study explores educational expectations across three immigrant generation groups with a focus on family structure and composition. We are especially interested in the effects of siblings and how might linguistic environment at home be mediating the resources available in formulating one’s postsecondary education plans in 12th grade. Our sample comes from pooled data of multiple waves of National Longitudinal Educational Study of 1988 and Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002. We will run logistic regression of weighted sample. Multiple imputation will be assessed for the missing cases. Preliminary results show that, contrary to the public image but consistent with the previous research, first and second generation students have higher educational expectation than third plus generation. Furthermore, students who come from a Non-English background who speak their native language with siblings half of the time have higher expectations than those who come from an English only background with no siblings.