Number 541 February 2017

Population & Societies

Immigrants’ educational attainment: a mixed picture, but often higher than the average in their country of origin Version française

Mathieu Ichou,* Anne Goujon** and the DiPAS team

A common misconception concerning immigrants is that, on the whole, they are poorly edu- cated. While this is true for some, most immigrants have attended school and are often more educated than the majority of people in their country of origin, as shown here by Mathieu Ichou for immigrants living in France, and Anne Goujon for refugees who arrived in in 2015.

Are the immigrants(1) living in France as poorly educated as some people claim? To answer this question, it is Figure 1. Proportion of individuals with no schooling or with higher education in France, standard practice to compare their educational levels by country of birth (%) with those of people born in France. But we can also draw comparisons between immigrants and the people France still living in their country of origin, though this is all too rarely attempted. We will begin by comparing United Kingdom immigrants with people born in France. China Belgium Varied levels of education among immigrants Germany Romania Vietnam Few people born in France never went to school (less Poland than 1%), and more than a quarter (27%) have completed Senegal higher education (Figure 1). By comparison, some Tunisia immigrant groups have very low average levels of Morocco education. This is the case for people born in Portugal Algeria and Turkey, a sizeable share of whom have no schooling Spain Italy (8% and 15%, respectively), and among whom the No schooling Serbia proportion with higher education is very small (7% and Higher education 9%). In other groups, the distribution of educational Turkey attainment shows greater contrasts, with an over- Portugal 0 10 20 30 40 50 representation of both individuals with no schooling % and of those with higher education. For example, the Mathieu Ichou, Population & Societies n° 541, INED, February 2017. Source: 2012 population census, INSEE (author’s calculations). Coverage: French-born individuals and immigrants in France aged * French Institute for Demographic Studies, author of the article on 18 and above from one of the 16 most frequent countries of origin immigrants in France (pages 1, 2 and 4) (which account for nearly three-quarter of all adult immigrants). ** Institute of (VID) and IIASA, author, with the Interpretation: Among immigrants aged 18 and above living in DiPAS team, of the article on refugees in Austria (page 3). France and born in China, 13% never went to school and 43% have completed higher education, versus 1% and 27%, respectively, (1) The immigrant population is made up of persons born as foreigners among French-born individuals. abroad and living in France, whatever their current nationality.

Number 541 • February 2017 • Population & Societies • www.ined.fr Immigrants’ educational attainment: a mixed picture

proportion of Moroccan immigrants who never went immigrants in France (here, using the 2012 population to school (19%) is the same as the proportion who census) against equivalent data in countries of origin completed higher education, while among the (here, the Barro-Lee 2013 database [1] which measures Senegalese the proportions are 17% and 27%, respectively. educational levels in some 150 countries across the Contrary to popular belief, Romanian immigrants world). Two methods are used to visualize the include a higher proportion of university graduates comparison. The first involves comparing the (37%) than persons born in France. distributions of immigrants and of individuals in their Thus, beyond an average situation of relative country of origin by five levels of education: no disadvantage compared to French-born people, immigrants education (None), primary (PE) some secondary (SS), form a population with very diverse levels of education. complete secondary (CS) and higher education (HE) (Figure 2). The age-sex distribution of the population Immigrants in France are more educated than in the country of birth, different to that of immigrants, the population in their country of origin is adjusted to obtain a meaningful comparison. The second method involves measuring the We will now compare immigrants not with the educational attainment of each immigrant relative to the population born in France, but with the people living population in the country of origin.[3] The relative in the immigrants’ countries of origin. More precisely, educational attainment of an immigrant in France we will compare immigrants’ educational attainment corresponds to his/her position, measured in centiles with that of the population of the same age and sex still from 0 to 100, in the distribution of educational levels of living in their country of birth. We can do this by persons of the same sex and age in the country of birth. matching data on the educational attainment of [2, 3] For an immigrant, a relative educational attainment of 70 signifies that 70% of the Figure 2. Educational levels of immigrants compared population of the same age and sex in with people living in their country of birth (%) the country of birth is less educated, and 30% more educated than him/ Serbia Turkey Portugal Romania % herself. The distribution of relative 80 60 educational attainment of immigrants 40 20 who arrived in France as adults from 0 one of the 16 most frequent origin None PE SS CS HE None PE SS CS HE None PE SS CS HE None PE SS CS HE countries is shown in Figure 3. The

% Italy Poland Belgium China countries of birth are ranked in 80 increasing order of immigrants’ mean 60 40 relative educational attainment. 20 0 For most countries of origin, None PE SS CS HE None PE SS CS HE None PE SS CS HE None PE SS CS HE immigrants to France are more educated than the majority of the % Spain Tunisia Germany Algeria 80 population who remained in their 60 country of birth. Figure 2 shows that, 40 20 in general, people who immigrate to 0 France are more often highly educated None PE SS CS HE None PE SS CS HE None PE SS CS HE None PE SS CS HE and less often have no schooling than % United Kingdom Morocco Vietnam Senegal individuals of the same age and sex in 80 60 their country of birth. This 40 observation is reflected in the fact that 20 0 most immigrants have high relative None PE SS CS HE None PE SS CS HE None PE SS CS HE None PE SS CS HE educational attainment (Figure 3). In

Immigrants in France Population in country of origin fact, excepting the four countries on the first row of Figures 2 and 3 (Serbia, Mathieu Ichou, Population & Societies n° 541, INED, February 2017. Turkey, Portugal and Romania), the Source: 2012 population census, INSEE and Barro-Lee database [1] (author’s calculations). majority of immigrants are located to Coverage: Immigrants in France aged 18 and above from the 16 most frequent countries of origin, educated in their country of birth (arrived as adults in France). the right of the dotted vertical lines of Notes: a) five levels of education are distinguished: no education (None); primary education Figure 3, with relative educational (PE); some secondary (SS); complete secondary (CS); and higher education (HE); b) the levels attainment of above 50, i.e. they are of education of immigrants in France are compared with those in the population of the country of origin adjusted to the immigrants’ age-sex distribution. more educated than half of the population in their country of birth.

2 Number 541 • February 2017 • Population & Societies • www.ined.fr The educational level of asylum seekers arriving in Austria in 2015

The educational level of asylum seekers arriving in Austria in 2015

Anne Goujon* and the DiPAS team**

One might expect the educational characteristics of Figure. Distribution of immigrants’ relative refugees, who are selected differently, to be distinct from educational attainment with respect to the those of the overall population of migrants as described population of their country of birth (%) % in the main article for France. For people facing a state of 100 3 10 11 6 emergency and wishing to seek refuge elsewhere, the 90 28 27 10 31 10 decision to leave their home country is triggered by factors 80 15 70 that are mostly linked to the crisis situation. However, 30 22 60 26 15 given the long distances to be covered by displaced persons 50 53 between their home and the countries where they seek 40 82 30 46 asylum, their economic status plays a major role – since 40 50 53 money is needed for transport and to pay smugglers when 20 10 19 crossing multiple national borders – and economic status 7 9 0 Overall Displaced Overall Displaced Displaced Overall is closely linked to educational attainment. population persons population persons persons population This is one of the findings of the Displaced Persons in Austria Syria Iraq Afghanistan Austria Survey (DiPAS) conducted by a team of researchers Post-secondary (ISCED 4+) Primary or lower secondary (ISCED 1-2) Upper secondary (ISCED 3) Below primary (ISCED 0) in Austria. The aim of DiPAS was to study the characteristics (education, attitudes and values) of the large numbers of Anne Goujon et al., Population & Societies n° 541, INED, February 2017. asylum seekers – about 60,000 people, originating mostly Source: Austria: Register data for 2013, Statistics Austria; Displaced from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan – who entered Austria in persons: DiPAS; Syria general population: Central Bureau of Statistics 2004; Afghanistan general population: Central Statistics Organisa- the summer and autumn of 2015. A total of 514 adult tion 2014. displaced persons, mostly residing in Vienna, completed the Note: All data for ages 20-59 except for Afghanistan age 25+; for Austria, ISCED 1-2 includes ISCED 0; No recent representative survey survey interviews. Information was gathered on spouses and is available for the Iraqi general population. children,Éva Beaujouan making et al., Population it possible & Societiesto analyse n° 540, the INED, characteristics January 2017. of 972 displaced persons living in Austria. share in the refugee population, among Syrian and Iraqi Two main findings emerged from the educational respondents in particular. distribution of the displaced population (Figure). First, they However, the total share of respondents in the sample are much more educated than the general population in the who have completed an upper secondary education (26% for country of origin. In Syria, people with very little education Syrians and 15% for Iraqis) is less than half that of the (below primary) account for 50% of the overall population Austrians (53%). aged 20-59, versus just 7% among the Syrian displaced The relatively high levels of education of the displaced population. Although there are proportionally more Afghans population could be a key factor determining their labour with low education, they are still more preponderant in the market integration. general population (82%) than in the displaced population Reference (53%). The results are probably similar for Iraq, although no recent data are available for the general population. [1] Buber-Ennser I., J. Kohlenberger, B. Rengs, Z. Al Zalak, A. At the other extreme of the education ladder, the Goujon, E. Striessnig, M. Potančoková, R. Gisser, M. R. Testa, proportions of highly educated people – mostly with college and W. Lutz, 2016, “Human Capital, Values, and Attitudes of Persons Seeking Refuge in Austria in 2015”, PLoS ONE 11 (9): or bachelor’s degrees – are higher among the displaced e0163481. population than among the general population of the same age: 27% versus 10% for Syrians, and 11% versus 3% for * Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) and International Institute for Afghans. Among displaced Iraqis in Austria, 31% have Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). completed higher education. ** Isabella Buber-Ennser, Judith Kohlenberger, Bernhard Rengs, Zakarya Al Zalak, Erich Striessnig, Michaela Potancoková, Richard Gisser, Maria Rita Another interesting finding is that the share of highly and at the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global educated Austrian residents (28%) is comparable with the Human Capital (IIASA, VID/OEAW, WU), Austria.

Number 541 • February 2017 • Population & Societies • www.ined.fr 3 Immigrants’ educational attainment: a mixed picture

Figure 3. Distribution of immigrants’ relative educational attainment the labour market and housing with respect to the population of their country of birth (%) difficulties encountered by many immigrants cannot be % Serbia Turkey Portugal Romania 4 attributed to an overall lack of qualifications. [4] 2

0 References 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100

[1] Barro R. J., Lee J. W., 2013, % Italy Poland Belgium China 4 “A new data set of educational

2 attainment in the world, 1950- 2010”, Journal of Development 0 Economics, 104(C), pp. 184-198. 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100 [2] Ichou M., 2014, “Who they were % Spain Tunisia Germany Algeria 4 there: Immigrants’ educational selectivity and their children’s 2 educational attainment”, 0 European Sociological Review, 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100 30(6), pp. 750-765.

% United Kingdom Morocco Vietnam Senegal [3] Ichou M., 2016,“‘Accueillir toute 4 la misère du monde’ ? Le trompe-

2 l’œil d’une vision misérabiliste de l’immigration”, in Beauchemin 0 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100 0 25 50 75 100 C., Ichou M. (eds.), Au-delà de la Mathieu Ichou, Population & Societies n° 541, INED, February 2017. ”crise des migrants” : décentrer le regard, Paris, Karthala, pp. 53-72. Source: 2012 population census, INSEE and Barro-Lee database [1] (author’s calculations). For a video presenting the main Coverage: Immigrants in France aged 18 and above from the 16 most frequent countries of origin, educated in their country of birth (arrived as adults in France). results, see: http://www.ined.fr/en/ Definition: The relative educational attainment of an immigrant in France corresponds to his/her position, everything_about_population/videos/ measured in centiles from 0 to 100, in the distribution of educational levels of persons of the same sex and age in the country of birth. For an immigrant, a relative educational attainment of 70 signifies that 70% of education-selective-emigration/ the population of the same and age sex in the country of birth is less educated, and 30% more educated than him/herself. [4] Beauchemin, C., Hamel, C., Interpretation:In France, most immigrants from Senegal have a relative level of education above 75, which Simon, P. (eds.) (2015). Trajectoires means that with respect to the population of the same age and sex in Senegal, they are in the top 25% in terms of education. Another segment of the Senegalese immigrant population has a relative educational et origines. Enquête sur la diversité level between 25 and 50; they are much less educated, and correspond to the second-lowest quartile of the Senegalese population in terms of education. des populations en France, Paris, Ined Éditions, 624 p.

For certain countries, such as the United Kingdom, Abstract Vietnam and Senegal, individuals who emigrate and settle in France are practically all among the most highly The immigrants living in France and the refugees who arrived in Austria are more educated than most of the educated in their country of birth, and thus have very population in their country of origin. By comparison with high relative educational attainment. the population in the host country, the picture is more mixed: some groups, such as immigrants from Portugal *** living in France, are relatively low educated, while others, The educational levels of immigrants in France are very such as Romanians, have more frequently completed diverse. Immigrants are generally much more highly higher education than people born in France. educated than people in their society of origin. Clearly,

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