Performance and well‐being of native and immigrant students. Comparative analysis based on PISA 2018

Abstract

Introduction The emotional, cultural, and economic changes involved in the process of coping with migration can be particularly difficult during adolescence. How education systems respond to the challenges posed by the flow of immigration has profound implications for society. One of the ways that students can demonstrate their adaptation to the education system is by their academic performance. In addition, in many education systems well‐being has been shown to be directly related to performance. Therefore, this study aims at examine the differences between native and immigrant students in mathematics and science skills, and in well‐being indicators evaluated in PISA 2018. Method We performed multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) based on the results of PISA 2018 evaluation, obtained from the official OECD database. The sample was 7099 Spanish students (49.5% girls; 50.5% boys), with a mean age of 15.83 years old (SD = 0.29). A little under half (42%) were native students, 35.5% were first generation‐immigrant students, and 22.7% were second‐generation immigrant students. Results The native students demonstrated higher levels of mathematics and science skills than the two groups of immigrant students, and had significantly higher means in positive affect, self‐efficacy–resilience, and feeling of belonging at school. Although life satisfaction was no different between the immigrant and native groups, the second‐generation immigrants showed higher rates of positive affect, and a greater sense of belonging to the school than the first‐generation immigrants. Conclusions We suggest future lines of research and the need to produce explanatory models that consider the complexity of migratory processes.

Life Satisfaction Development in the Transition to Adulthood: Differences by Gender and Immigrant Background

“…Empirical research so far has focused on differences in levels rather than on the development of life satisfaction between children of immigrants and nonimmigrants. Results are inconsistent; Some research found children of immigrants to have lower levels of life satisfaction (Stevens et al, 2015 ), whereas others found no significant differences (Rodríguez et al, 2020 ), or found children of immigrants to have higher life satisfaction (Tang, 2019 ). Since these studies measured life satisfaction at one point in time, these inconsistencies may indeed indicate differential development for children of immigrants and nonimmigrants.…”

Orientation, Parent Engagement, Tutoring, Summer Programs, and College Support: How a City is Helping Immigrant Students

“…Research shows a variation in rates of academic achievement among immigrant students and children of immigrants [33,34]. For example, Rodríguez et al [35] found that native students performed better in science and mathematics. However, De Feyter et al [36] revealed that children of immigrants showed better attendance, higher grades, and higher scores on standardized reading and math tests in comparison to their peers from native families.…”

Geographic, Socio-Demographic and School Type Variation in Adolescent Wellbeing and Mental Health and Links with Academic Competence in the United Arab Emirates

“…Contrasting findings seem to be explained by differences in the host country considered and what aspect of wellbeing is the focus of the study. For example, studies exploring academic and wellbeing outcomes have found that native students have better academic performance, but higher (Wang, 2021 ) or lower (Rodríguez et al, 2020 ) scores in positive affect, as well as equal (Alivernini et al, 2020 ; Rodríguez et al, 2020 ) or slightly lower (Wang, 2021 ) scores in LS. Where immigrant adolescents report lower wellbeing, differences are often explained by socio-economic characteristics, as well as friendships and loneliness, discrimination, religiosity, social participation, acculturation, and school related factors (e.g., language, bullying, school-related anxiety, fear of failure, grade repetition, etc.)…”