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Getting by High School: Identity Formation and the Educational Achievements of Punjabi Young Men in Surrey, B.C

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Getting by High School: Identity Formation and the Educational Achievements of Punjabi Young Men in Surrey, B.C GETTING BY HIGH SCHOOL: IDENTITY FORMATION AND THE EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF PUNJABI YOUNG MEN IN SURREY, B.C. by HEATHER DANIELLE FROST M.A., The University of Toronto, 2002 B.A., The University of Toronto, 2000 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Geography) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) December 2010 © Heather Danielle Frost, 2010 Abstract This thesis is concerned with the lives and educational achievements of young Indo-Canadians, specifically the high school aged sons of Punjabi parents who immigrated to Canada beginning in the 1970s, and who were born or who have had the majority of their schooling in Canada‟s public school system. I examine how these young people develop and articulate a sense of who they are in the context of their parents‟ immigration and the extent to which their identities are determined and conditioned by their everyday lives. I also grapple with the implications of identity formation for the educational achievements of second generation youth by addressing how the identity choices made by young Punjabi Canadian men influence their educational performances. Using data collected by the Ministry of Education of British Columbia, I develop a quantitative profile of the educational achievements of Punjabi students enrolled in public secondary schools in the Greater Vancouver Region. This profile indicates that while most Punjabi students are completing secondary school, many, particularly the young men, are graduating with grade point averages at the lower end of the continuum and are failing to meet provincial expectations in Foundation Skills Assessments. To understand the identities and educational experiences of young Punjabi men, I conducted semi-structured interviews with prominent community members, teachers, school administrators and young Punjabi men and women attending Getting By High School, a public secondary school in Surrey, B.C. I apply the theory of segmented assimilation as formulated by sociologists Portes and Rumbaut (2001a) and work with the concept of masculinities from critical men‟s studies to describe the linkages between place, identity and educational achievements by evaluating the effects of school, family and community contexts on the lives and identities of the 15 young men I interviewed. I argue that for this group of young men, life in Surrey‟s Indo-Canadian community has provided the conditions for the development of a “brown” identity which while protecting them from the pernicious “Jack” has translated into a lack of scholastic effort and academic mediocrity. I conclude by addressing the implications of my findings for the theory of segmented assimilation. ii Preface Sections of Chapter 5: Being “Brown” have been published in “Being „Brown‟ in a Canadian Suburb,” Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 8 (2), 212-232. Approval to conduct research for this project was obtained from the University of British Columbia‟s Behavioural Research Ethics Board on February 6, 2006. The Certificate of Approval is number B05-0688. iii Table of Contents Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………….......... ii Preface …………………………………………………………………………………………... iii Table of Contents ……………………………………………………………………………….. iv List of Tables ……………………………………………………………………………………. vi List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………………... vii Acknowledgements ……………………………………....…………………………………..... viii Dedication …………..…………………………………....…………………………………....... ix Chapter One: Introduction ………………………………………………………………………. 1 The New Second Generation ……………………………….............................................. 1 About this Study: Objectives, Research Questions and Methodology …………………. 7 The Indo-Canadian Community in Greater Vancouver ……………………………........ 15 Chapter Two: Punjabi Students in Vancouver Area Public Schools: How Are They Faring? .. 21 Patterns of School Performance in Canada: Immigration, Ethnicity and Education ....... 22 About the Data ………………………………………………………………………….. 28 Distribution of Punjabi Students Across the Lower Mainland ……………………........ 30 Academic Achievement by Home Language ……………………………………........... 32 Academic Achievement by Gender and Home Language ……………………………… 40 Concluding Remarks ……………………………………………………………………. 48 Chapter Three: The Theory of Segmented Assimilation …………………………………….... 50 The Theory of Segmented Assimilation ..………………………………………………. 51 Evidence of Segmented Assimilation in Canada? ............................................................ 70 Concluding Remarks ..……………………………………………………………...…... 78 Chapter Four: Life in Surrey‟s Punjabi Community ..…………………………………………. 80 Making Sense of Punjabi Students‟ Educational Performances ...……………………… 80 Modes of Incorporation ...………………………………………………………………. 81 Cultural Barriers Confronted by Punjabi Boys ...…………………………………....... 104 Concluding Remarks ..……………………………………………………………........ 119 Chapter Five: Being “Brown”……………………………………………………………….... 121 Getting By High School ……………………………………………………………….. 122 Theorizing Race and Gender ...…………………………………………………………128 iv Concluding Remarks ...……………………………………………………………........ 170 Chapter Six: Confronting a Subculture: The Role of Family and Community ...…………….. 172 The Role of Family in Confronting the “Jack”….……………………………………... 172 The Immigrant Community: The Importance of Networks and Norms ...…………….. 193 Concluding Remarks ...……………………………………………………………........ 215 Chapter Seven: The Educational Consequences of Being “Brown”………………………….. 217 The Brown Boys‟ Grades ...…………………………………………………………… 218 Ethnic Identities and Educational Achievement……………………………………….. 220 “Willful Laziness”…...………………………………………………………………… 225 Apathy and Complacency ..……………………………………………………………. 232 Concluding Remarks ..…………………………………………………………………. 249 Chapter Eight: Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………. 251 The Practical Implications of Being “Brown”…………………………………………. 260 Theoretical Implications: Is this a Story of Segmented Assimilation.............................. 263 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………... 271 Appendices ………………......................................................................................................... 286 Appendix A: Description of Second Generation Punjabi Young Men Interviewed …. 286 v List of Tables Table 2.1: Distribution of Students by Home Language Group and Cohort Year ......………… 30 Table 2.2: Proportion (%) of Punjabi Students by School District ……………………………. 31 Table 2.3: Top Ten Languages Spoken in the Home by Public School Students in Surrey …… 32 Table 2.4: Proportion (%) of Students by Home Language Group Not Receiving a Grad Flag within 6 Years of Enrolling in Grade 8 ……….…………………………………………………33 Table 2.5: Proportion (%) of Students in each G.P.A. Range by Language Group and Cohort …………………………………………………………………………………………... 35 Table 2.6: Proportion (%) of A and C- Students by Home Language Group Relative to Share of Total Cohort Population with a Recorded GPA …………………………………………….. 36 Table 2.7: Median Grade Point Average for High School Graduates by Home Language Group ……………………………………………………………………..…………. 37 Table 2.8: FSA Numeracy Scores by Home Language Group ……...………………………… 39 Table 2.9: FSA Reading Comprehension Scores by Home Language Group ………………… 39 Table 2.10: FSA Writing Scores by Home Language Group ………………………………….. 39 Table 2.11: Gender Splits (% F/% M) by G.P.A. Range for Total Cohort Populations ……..... 39 Table 2.12: Gender Splits and Spreads* by G.P.A. Range, Cohort and Language Group …..... 43 Table 2.13: Gender Splits for FSA Tests for Total Cohort Populations ……......……………... 44 Table 2.14: Gender Splits for FSA Tests by Cohort and Home Language Group …………….. 47 Table 4.1: Visible Minority Groups, Counts in 2006 for Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver CMA and Surrey ……………………………………………………………………………….. 93 Table 4.2: Visible Minority Groups, Percentage Distribution in 2006 for Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver CMA and Surrey ……………………………………………………….. 93 Table 4.3: Language Spoken Most Often at Home by Immigrant Status in Vancouver, CMA .. 94 Table 4.4: Language Spoken Most Often at Home by Immigrant Status in Surrey …………... 94 vi List of Figures Figure 3.1 Segmented Assimilation Model …………………………………………………..... 55 Figure 3.2 Paths to Mobility …………………………………………………………………… 55 Figure 3.3 Determinants of Adaptation Across Generations …………………………………... 56 Figure 4.1 Distribution of Punjabi as Home Language Across Vancouver (CMA) …………… 95 Figure 4.2 Distribution of South Asian Population Across Vancouver (CMA) ……………….. 96 Figure 8.1 Paths to Mobility ………………………………………………………………….. 263 vii Acknowledgements I am grateful to the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada and Metropolis, B.C. for funding my doctoral research. I also want to thank my advisor David Ley for directing me towards research on immigration and for his sage advice, careful reading and patience. Thanks go as well to my committee members – Daniel Hiebert, Geraldine Pratt and Leonie Sandercock – for providing me with thoughtful observations and inspiration for future research. I also want to extend my appreciation to everyone in the Department of Geography at UBC and to all of the wonderful geographers who I have had the pleasure of meeting and mingling with over the years. My warmest thanks go to Mona Atia, who I first met in Geog 520, and who remains a good friend. I could not have completed this research without the help of the administrators, staff, teachers and students at Getting By High School and I am particularly
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