190094 SE Theory of Educational Science IV: Education, Counseling and Human Development (2023W)

There is broad consensus among researchers that the conditions under which immigrant and non-immigrant youth in western receiving societies are growing up today are very different from those experienced by previous generations. In particular, the shift from manufacturing- to service-based economies has increased the importance of formal education as a critical prerequisite for a successful entry into the labor market. At the same time, these socioeconomic transformations are also viewed as the driving forces that have altered the parameters for the incorporation and assimilation of immigrants today. While there continues to be significant debate over the long-term effects of these changes on the experience of recent immigrants and their children, there is a general agreement among immigration researchers, that shifting occupational opportunity structures, coupled with a much greater diversity among contemporary immigrants, have increased the premium on human capital and led to a much greater heterogeneity in the assimilation pathways of different immigrant groups.

This course introduces students to recent theoretical debates in the United States, which are increasingly adapted in the European context, between proponents of so-called straight-line versus segmented assimilation arguments. In light of the growing diversity of newcomers as well as their places of settlement, a particular focus will be on how local and institutional settings may shape the experience of second-generation youth. Finally, applying these conceptual readings to case material will allow for an examination of implicit notions of ‘success’ that undergird these debates. Questioning the extent to which the dominant emphasis on socioeconomic status mobility adequately reflects the experiences of second-generation immigrant youth today, will sketch possibilities of professional practice and intervention.