Choice and Circumstance: Social Capital and Planful Competence in the Attainments of Immigrant Youth *

Abstract: Although research finds that foreign-born youth often enjoy greater educational attainments than domestic-horn youth, we do not have a coherent theoretical explanation of why this happens. We operationalize individual and structural factors with measures of planful competence and social capital; both of these independently predict educational attainment, and measures of occupational attainment further indicate that these educational histories may have lifetime effects. Although the data do not provide blanket evidence for a positive effect of youthful immigration on educational attainment, bilingual foreign born students do enjoy a greater likelihood of university attendance than other students, while age at immigration is related to attachment to school and planful competence, which axe key variables in understanding educational and occupational attainment. This paper suggests these students do well because they can draw on the resources of both ethnic and non-ethnic communities; these foreign-born youth may be well-positioned to make competent choices, leading to successful personal outcomes. Resume : Les recherches indiqueat que les jannes nes a l'etranger connaisseat souvent de plus grandes reussites scolairas que ceux nes au pays, mais il n'existe pas d'explication theorique coherente des causes du phenomene. Nous operatioanalisons les facteurs individuels et stracturels avec une mesure de la competence a planifier et du capital social; pris individuellement, cas deux elements predisent la reussite scolaire; qui plus est, une mesure de la reussite professionnelle semble indiquer une repercussion de cet actif scolaire tout au long de la vie. Bien que les donnees n'apportent pas la preuve generalisee d'un effet positif de l'immigration pendant la jeunesse sur la reussite scolaire, on constate deux choses : que les eleves bilingues nes a l'etranger sont plus susceptibles que les autres d'aller a l' universite; et que l'age au moment de l'immigration influe sur l' attachement l'ecole et sur la competence a planifier, deux variables cles quand il s'agit de comprendre la reussite scolaire et professionnelle. Le present article suggere que, si les elevas en question reussissent, c'est parce qu'ils ont la possibilite d'exploiter les ressources de la collectivite generale et celles de la communaute ethnique; il se peut que ces jeunes nes a l'etranger soieat ainsi bien places pour faire des choix competants, dant decoulant des resultats personnels pesitifs. The study of educational attainment has been characterized by two modes of inquiry: the first tends to focus on structural determinants, while the second is a more individual-level examination of the factors differentiating successful students from their less successful counterparts. Much of the research in this area, however, has not integrated these two modes of inquiry, providing a limited perspective on an adolescent's journey through the educational system. This article seeks to integrate individual choices and structural determinants in assessing the educational attainment of immigrant youth, thereby recognizing the structures of opportunity in which educational decisions are made (Shanahan, Elder and Miech, 1997). In focussing on agency and structure in determining educational attainment, this study examines the educational histories of immigrant youth in a Canadian suburb. These foreign-born youth are distinct from second generation, Canadian-born children of immigrants. Having immigrated to Canada before reaching adulthood, these youth lie in between "first" and "second generation" immigrants (Rumbaut, 1991; Zhou, 1997). However, despite increased evidence suggesting that immigrant-born youth in Canada and the US enjoy high levels of educational attainment (similar to, and often higher than, domestic-born youth), the separation of agency and structure in these analyses has limited the explanatory power of this research. The result is that we do not yet have a coherent theoretical explanation for the educational attainment of immigrant youth (c. …