Keeping the Immigrant Bargain

“Vivian Louie’s study of second-generation Dominican and Colombian immigrants advances new insights on why some immigrants have gained greater success than others. Louie reveals that a full understanding of the different experiences of immigrants requires more than determining their desire and capacity to be incorporated into American society. We also have to consider the role that institutions play in their incorporation. Keeping the Immigrant Bargain is a worthwhile addition to the burgeoning literature on ethnic-group assimilation.”
—William Julius Wilson, Harvard University 

“Immigrants, past and present, endure great hardships in order to secure a better life for their children. In today’s America the path to that ‘better life’ runs directly through often deeply troubled public schools. In Keeping the Immigrant Bargain, Vivian Louie presents a cleareyed and rigorous assessment of why some immigrants have used the educational system to great advantage, while others have been consistently failed by it. This is an important book and should be read by anyone concerned about the children of immigrants and their place in our nation’s future.”
—Philip Kasinitz, The City University of New York 

“Vivian Louie is one of the country’s prime empirical investigators of the immigrant second generation’s college experience. Keeping the Immigrant Bargain makes a significant contribution to a national issue that transcends immigrants: how to enable working class and poor (or moderate income and poor) youngsters to get into, survive, and succeed in four-year colleges. Her reporting on the familial, institutional, and other supporting people and systems that help them succeed is particularly valuable. Louie’s writing combines subtle analysis and empathic narrative, and the book is recommended most highly to researchers, educators, and policymakers dedicated to increasing access to college for less affluent Americans.”
—Herbert J. Gans, Columbia University

Most nineteenth and early-twentieth-century European immigrants arrived in the United States with barely more than the clothes on their backs. They performed menial jobs, spoke little English, and often faced a hostile reception. But two or more generations later, the overwhelming majority of their descendants had successfully integrated into American society. Today's immigrants face many of the same challenges, but some experts worry that their integration, especially among Latinos, will not be as successful as their European counterparts. Keeping the Immigrant Bargain examines the journey of Dominican and Colombian newcomers whose children have achieved academic success one generation after the arrival of their parents. Sociologist Vivian Louie provides a much-needed comparison of how both parents and children understand the immigrant journey toward education, mobility, and assimilation.

Based on Louie's own survey and interview study, Keeping the Immigrant Bargain examines the lives of thirty-seven foreign-born Dominican and Colombian parents and their seventy-six young adult offspring—the majority of whom were enrolled in or had graduated from college. The book shows how they are adapting to American schools, jobs, neighborhoods, and culture. Louie discovers that before coming to the United States, some of these parents had already achieved higher levels of education than the average foreign-born Dominican or Colombian, and after arrival many owned their own homes. Significantly, most parents in each group expressed optimism about their potential to succeed in the United States, while also expressing pessimism about whether they would ever be accepted as Americans.

In contrast to the social exclusion experienced by their parents, most of the young adults had assimilated linguistically and believed themselves to be full participants in American society. Keeping the Immigrant Bargain shows that the offspring of these largely working-class immigrants had several factors in common that aided their mobility. Their parents were highly engaged in their lives and educational progress, although not always in ways expected by schools or their children, and the children possessed a strong degree of self-motivation. Equally important was the availability of key institutional networks of support, including teachers, peers, afterschool and other enrichment programs, and informal mentors outside of the classroom. These institutional networks gave the children the guidance they needed to succeed in school, offering information the parents often did not know themselves.

While not all immigrants achieve such rapid success, this engrossing study shows how powerful the combination of self-motivation, engaged families, and strong institutional support can be. Keeping the Immigrant Bargain makes the case that institutional relationships—such as teachers and principals who are trained to accommodate cultural difference and community organizations that help parents and children learn how to navigate the system—can bear significantly on immigrant educational success.

VIVIAN LOUIE is associate professor of education at the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University.