Conference Programme (PDF, 1019KB) - Trinity College Dublin

abstracts by stream and session
the pattern is, however, more complex. With respect to the second aim, we find that there are few to no ethnic differences in the access to
social capital, measured by the position generator. However, it appears that the range and position of social resources from strong ties is
lower for the East-Europeans and that the volume of social resources from strong ties is higher for the Turks. The implications of these
findings for future studies are discussed.
Leisure behaviour of Eastern European immigrants
Julia Sevtsenko, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
The paper aims to explore how constraints and experienced discrimination shape the nature and extent of leisure activities of Polish
migrants in Ireland. Previous research suggested that the subjective integration and the well-being of immigrants are closely connected
with their self-realization at work and leisure. Social research of the last decade was mainly concentrated on integration of Polish
migrants through labour and economic position, and very little research has been done in the area of leisure activities of this ethnic
group. In the paper, it is argued lack of language proficiency, time, financial means and information constrain the leisure choices
immigrants. Similarly, discrimination at work-place and different kinds of institutions are expected to reduce the willingness of migrants
to participate in leisure activities which expose them to contact with Irish people. Empirical hypotheses are tested using a unique dataset
of ca 500 Polish migrants in the Greater Dublin Area.
Core networks of Polish migrants in Ireland - Polonia in Dublin 2009 study
*Monika Kaliszewska, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Peter Mühlau, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
The study describes and explains the composition of core networks of recent Polish immigrants to Ireland. A “core network” is defined as
the group of people that were entrusted with private matters of immigrants within the last 6 months from the time of the interview. Core
networks of Polish migrants differ with regard to their ethnic composition, the place of residence, level of education of and the type of
relationship with the network members. The study exmines how age at migration, duration of stay and work history in the country of
origin and residence affect the composition of the core network. Language proficiency and education level are considered to be important
moderating factors. The unique dataset of circa 500 Polish immigrants to Ireland - living in the Greater Dublin Area – is used to test
hypotheses. Data was collected in 2009/2010 in a series of structured interviews, and the sample was selected employing a new
respondent driven sampling method. A name generator was used as an instrument to identify the core network of respondents.
SESSION 6g
The Educational Achievement of Immigrant Children: Does Parents' Relative Education Play a Role?
*Ozge Bilgili, Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, The Netherlands
Frank Van Tubergen, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Marcel Coenders, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
In many destination countries, immigrant children perform significantly worse than the native population in school (e.g. Heath et al. 2008;
Kalmijn and Kraaykamp 2003; Kao et al. 1996). This group difference between the immigrant and the native children is explained to a
large extent by parental socioeconomic status. That is to say, when parental education, income and occupational status are taken into
account, as suggested by Blau and Duncan’s status attainment model (1967), most immigrant children have similar educational outcomes
as the native population (e.g. Fase 1994; Langen and Jungbluth 1990; Van Ours and Veenman 2003; Warren 1996).
Researchers have evaluated these results as surprising, considering the unique situation in which immigrant children are found (Gang
and Zimmermann 1999). It is argued that several factors such as language proficiency, ethnic segregation and discrimination in school
put immigrant children in a disadvantageous position compared to their native peers (Epps 1995; Fase 1994; Warren 1996). Hence, it is
remarkable to see that parental socioeconomic status can explain most of the differences between populations. Even more surprisingly,
in the Netherlands, some studies suggest that after controlling for parental socioeconomic status, immigrant children perform even
better than their native peers (e.g. Hustinx 2001; Van de Werfhorst and Van Tubergen 2007).
These challenging findings have led researchers to question the existing approaches used in explaining educational achievement
differences. Recently, Van de Werfhorst and Van Tubergen (2007) have argued that the measurement of parental education has to be
adjusted to better fit the migration context. It is claimed that the conventional measurement of parental education may actually be the
cause of spurious results concerning outperformance of immigrant children, since it is insensitive to education obtained in different
countries.
There are extensive differences between countries concerning what they can offer to their citizens in the educational domain. Accordingly,
access to education shows extensive differences between countries. In less developed countries, there is a large proportion of people who
do not attend school at all, whereas in more developed countries almost the whole population finishes at least compulsory education (Van
de Werfhorst and Van Tubergen 2007). Based on such differences, we can argue that the same level of education does not have the same
meaning across countries. Consequently, controlling for parental education does not necessarily mean a perfect equalization of the
underlying factors of this indicator (Hustinx 2001). Hence, with the conventional measurement of parental education, immigrant children’s
parents’ talents, aspirations and expectations remain unobserved to a certain extent.
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