The Educational and Vocational Aspirations of Asian Immigrant and English School-Leavers--A Comparative Study

Abstract

This study was conducted in two senior comprehensive schools in one of the Outer London boroughs which contains a considerable proportion of Asian immigrants. Two questionnaires were administered to 42 Asian pupils (27 boys and I5 girls), and 50 English pupils (e7 boys and 23 girls) of school-leaving age. The two groups were matched as closely as possible by age, sex, form, neighbourhood and intelligence. The study showed that Asian boys and girls, as compared to their English counterparts, expressed significantly higher educational as well as vocational aspirations. Compared with the English sample, the Asians also showed higher inter-generation occupational mobility. The possible reasons for the higher educational and vocational aspirations of the Asians were considered to be parental motivational attitudes, migration to the U.K. and ethnic coloured minority status.