L’expérience socioscolaire d’élèves montréalais originaires de l’Asie du Sud : dynamiques familiales, communautaires et systémiques

This study explores dynamics that influence educational achievement among Montreal students of South Asian origin (e.g. from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh) in public, French-language high schools. At the secondary level in Quebec, compared to other immigrant students of diverse ethnic origins, these students have the highest drop-out rate. This remains the case even when we take into account student departure from the province prior to fifteen years of age, and when we recognize this group’s significant attendance in the adult education sector. This study aims, on the one hand, to provide a deeper understanding of familial, community, and school dynamics that influence the socio-educational experience of these students, and on the other hand to identify the most appropriate and efficient means for diminishing their difficulties. Data were gathered according to a mixed method approach, consisting of in-depth interviews with students of South Asian origin and with different actors holding educational roles (parents, as well as school and community practitioners), and an anonymous questionnaire addressed exclusively to South Asian parents. Data were analysed according to a framework evaluating the schooling achievement or failure of immigrant origin students according to five types of factors: socio-economic, linguistic, cultural, socio-structural, and systemic. Research results highlight the role of the student as an actor in his or her achievement, all the while emphasizing the impact of diverse milieus that students occupy. The family plays a notable role in shaping their migratory project, values and practices, as well as their linguistic, socio-economic, and relational resources. The ethnic community also plays a role at an institutional completeness level. The study underscores the influence of the educational system in terms of its politics, educational programs and frameworks, including in terms of practices and dynamics within the school. Finally, the impact of the context in which new arrivals are welcomed and integrated, and the climate of inter-ethnic relations within the host society are addressed. After all, “it takes a village to raise a child!” Specifically, the study’s results indicate that challenges faced by South Asian parents entering the job market, their limited knowledge of French, and the fact that certain South Asian values sometimes conflict with Quebecois values are the main familial dynamics that undermine the educational success of students of South Asian origin in French-language schools in Quebec. With regards to community dynamics, the institutional weakness of the South Asian community, as well as the small number of organizations dedicated to education, have an important impact. Furthermore, the problematic classification of students upon arrival in the Quebec schooling system, nearly non-existent relationships between schools and parents, and certain services that are maladapted to student realities (with relation to welcoming and orientation services) are the main systemic dynamics that diminish the socio-educational integration of South Asian students, but also students of immigrant origin more generally.

Keyphrases: Educational achievement, Socio-educational integration, High school students, South Asian origin