Ethnicity in education research on British born ethnic minorities Demetris Hadjigeorgiou City University

Ethnicity as Social Capital useful in explaining ethnic minority academic performance from bottom-up Ethnicity as Social Capital useful in explaining ethnic minority academic performance from bottom-up Must be sensitive so as not to ‘essentialise’ ethnicity Must be sensitive so as not to ‘essentialise’ ethnicity

Outline Overview of themes in early literature Overview of themes in early literature Recent encouraging trends Recent encouraging trends Ethnicity as Social Capital Ethnicity as Social Capital Avoid essentialising ethnicity Avoid essentialising ethnicity

Overview of themes in ethnic minority educational research Family background, including class & racial disadvantage – ‘blackness’ School processes, role of teachers Pupil characteristics, language problems & self- perception

More positive trends in ethnic minority education Increasing recognition of complexity & diversity in ethnic minority academic performance

Achievement by ethnic group GCSE’s in England A*-C GCSE’s in Britain Chinese 1 st generation low human & financial capital Indians & Pakistanis 10% more likely to achieve this when control for class Ethnicity %Expected GCSE’s 5 A*-C White British 52 Indian67 Pakistani45 Bangladeshi48 Black Caribbean 36 Black African 43 Chinese74

First Year Full-Time & Part-Time Students, Ethnicity %18-24 in higher education %18-24 in Great Britain 18-24’s in higher education White *-52* Indian Pakistani Bangladeshi * Chinese Asian Other Africans Caribbeans Black Other *-62

Ethnicity as Social Capital Ethnicity ‘unfashionable’ in 1970’s and into 1980’s Work in America on ‘ethnicity as social capital’. Combination of cultural capital & social capital (Modood, 2004). Can encourage academic performance through ‘communal effect’ and shielding children from developing similar attitudes to other pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Characteristics of ethnicity as Social Capital Family support Embededness in ethnic group Intergenerational closure

Family Support Mean scores of Year 13 pupils’ decisions to enter Higher Education Issues affecting decision Black African Black Caribbean Pakistani/ B’deshi IndianChinese All minority groups White E’ment from family Always assumed go to HE Chinese parents UK (Francis & Archer, 2003) Greek-Cypriot parents UK

Embededness in Social Group Geographical concentration Many formal and informal networks Lack of sense of Britishness

Intergenerational Closure Continued importance of family to many ethnic minorities in the UK Muslim community (Archer 2003) & Chinese community (Francis & Archer 2004)

Avoiding essentialism Ethnicity as Social Capital can appear to ‘essentialise’ ethnicity New ethnicities literature Particular problem for minorities such as Asians portrayed as static and traditional Considerable intra-group variation e.g. Pakistanis & Bangladeshis

Negotiating between family, community and ‘external influences’ e.g. local youth cultures Use of different capitals in different situations Developing understanding on class & status within communities