Promoting PostͲSecondary Pathways Among Filipino Youth in Ontario PhilipKelly JennileeAustria JeanetteChua ConelydeLeon EnricoEsguerra AlexFelipe MilaAstorgaGarcia AllisonMagpayo JuliaMais ChristopherSorio ErnestTupe ReportfundedbytheOntarioHumanCapitalResearchandInnovationFund,2013Ͳ14. PresentedtotheMinistryofTraining,CollegesandUniversities. March19th2014 Thisstudyarisesfromacollaborativeresearchproject—theFilipinoYouthTransitions inCanada(FYTIC)project—whichinvolvednumerousorganizationsandindividuals.It wasinitiatedincollaborationwiththeCommunityAllianceforSocialJustice(CASJ)in TorontoandconductedinconjunctionwiththeCASJ,AksyonNgAtingKabataan(ANAK) inWinnipegandtheMigrantWorkersFamilyResourceCentreinHamilton.Themany contributionsoftheFYTICsteeringcommitteeinTorontoaregratefullyacknowledged: JennileeAustria,JeanetteChua,ConelydeLeon,MithiEsguerra,RickyEsguerra,Alex Felipe,MilaAstorgaͲGarcia,HermieGarcia,VeronicaJavier,JuliaMais,ChristopherSorio andEjayTupe.Thanksalsototheproject’sresearchassistants:VeronicaJavier,Allison Magpayo,JeanetteChuaandConelydeLeoninToronto;JosephineEricinHamilton; DarlyneBautista,DaisyBautistaandKeziaMalabananinWinnipeg;andMaureen MendozaandMayFarralesinVancouver.Fundingforthisprojectwasprovidedthrough aStandardResearchGrantfromtheSocialSciencesandHumanitiesResearchCouncilof Canada,andthroughtheOntarioHumanCapitalResearchandInnovationFund.The projectwasadministeredthroughtheYorkCentreforAsianResearch.Project administrationwasprovidedbyAliciaFilipowich.TheFYTIClogowascreatedbyDivine MontesclarosandthisreportwasdesignedbyYshCabana.Formoreinformationonthe project,contactProfessorPhilipKelly:[email protected] http:// ycar.apps01.yorku.ca/research/programmes-projects/filipino-youth-transitions-in-canada/ TableofContents 1.Introduction...................................................................................................................3 2.IdentifyingtheIssueofFilipinoEducationalOutcomes................................................4 3.Methodology..................................................................................................................7 4.FactorsAffectingPSEAccessAmongFilipinoYouthinOntario.....................................9 i)HouseholdEconomicsandDeprofessionalization...................................................................9 ii)AffordabilityofPSEandDebtAversion.................................................................................14 iii)NavigatingtheEducationalSystem,andPrioritizingFilipinoStudents................................16 iv)MentoringandRoleModelling.............................................................................................19 v)TheRoleofExtendedFamily................................................................................................21 vi)GenderandMasculinity........................................................................................................23 vii)FilipinoIdentityinCanada...................................................................................................24 5.Conclusion....................................................................................................................26 6.References....................................................................................................................28 Promoting PostͲSecondary Pathways Among Filipino Youth in Ontario 1.Introduction Variousstudieshaveshownthat,inaggregate,thechildrenofimmigrantsdorelatively wellinOntario,andinCanadaasawhole(Aydemiretal.2008;FinnieandMuller,2010; Reitzetal.2011).Immigrantchildrengraduatefromuniversityatsignificantlyhigher ratesthantheirCanadianͲborncounterparts,andathigherratesthantheirparents.On facevalue,itmightbeassumedthatthereisaneffectivesystemofpostͲsecondary accessfornewCanadians,and,morebroadly,apathwaytoupwardsocialmobilityfor thechildrenofimmigrants. Withinthataggregatepattern,however,therearesomeverywidevariationsin differentimmigrantcommunitiesandacrossgenders.Studiesintheliteratureon1.5 and2ndgenerationoutcomeshavethereforeemphasizedtheneedtounderstand groupͲspecificdynamicswhenanalyzingintergenerationalsocialmobility(Abadaetal. 2009;Anisefetal,2010;FinnieandMuller,2010;AbadaandLin,2011). Inthisreport,weexaminethecaseofFilipinoyouthinOntario,whorepresentan unexplainedanomaly.Despitehavingparentswithamongthehighestratesof universitydegreeholdershipofallimmigrantgroups,Filipinoyouthhaveamongthe lowestratesofuniversitygraduation.Thisappliesparticularlytothosewhoarrivein Canadaduringchildhood.Furthermore,whilewomenhaveovertakenmeninpostͲ secondaryeducationalachievementacrossallgroups,thegenderdisparityinthe Filipinocommunityisespeciallypronounced.YoungFilipinomenhaveamongthelowest ratesofuniversitygraduationofanygroup. Thisreportaddressestheanomalyinanumberofstages.First,weusestatisticaldata toidentifythepatternsofFilipinoyoutheducationaloutcomesinOntario.Secondthe methodsusedinthisprojectareexplained.Third,wewillexaminethefactorsthatour datasuggestsmightliebehindthepatternsofeducationaloutcomes.Ineachcase,we offeraseriesofpolicyandprogrammingrecommendationstoaddresstheissue. PromotingPostͲSecondaryPathwaysAmongFilipinoYouthinOntario 3 2.IdentifyingtheIssueofFilipinoEducationalOutcomes Table1usesthe2011NationalHouseholdSurvey1tosummarizetheproblem.Taking datafortheprovinceofOntario,thetablelooksspecificallyatyoungpeoplewhoarrived withtheirfamiliesinthe1990sandwhowereaged25Ͳ29by2011.Thismeansthat theywereaged5Ͳ18whentheylandedinCanadaandthereforelikelyspentsomeorall oftheirschoolingintheOntariosystem. AmongthenonͲimmigrantpopulationinthisagebracket,25.4percentofwomenhave nopostͲsecondaryeducation,and37.6percentofmen.Fordifferentvisibleminority groups2,theequivalentfiguresvarywidely.Forexample,lessthan20percentof ChinesemenfailedtogainPSE,whilealmosthalfofSoutheastAsian3menfailedtodo so. Acrossallgroups,thegenderdisparityispronounced,withmenfarmorelikelytostop theireducationatthehighschoollevelorbelow.TheFilipinocommunitystandsoutin thisregardbecauseofthesheersizeofthegendergap.Filipinomenarealmosttwiceas likelytobewithoutpostͲsecondaryeducationasFilipina4women. ThosewhohavecompletedsomelevelofpostͲsecondaryeducationfollowvaried pathwaysincludingapprenticeshipsortradediplomas,collegediplomasanduniversity degrees.Successattheuniversitylevelvariesverywidely,bothacrossdifferentgroups andbygender.AmongChinesewomeninthiscohort,68percenthaveuniversity degrees,butonly20.1percentofLatinAmericanwomen.WhileFilipinawomenfare morepoorlythanthenonͲimmigrantaverage,andsignificantlyworsethansomeother groups,itisFilipinomenwhoseoutcomesaremostanomalous.InOntario,only13.2per centofFilipinomenhavegraduatedfromuniversity–aratethatishalfthenumberfor nonͲimmigrantsandlessthanaquarteroftheChinesecommunity. 1The2011NationalHouseholdSurvey(NHS)(StatisticsCanada2011)isalessreliablesourceofdatathan the2006census.AlthoughitusedalargersamplethanthelongͲformcensus(oneinthreehouseholds, ratherthanoneinfive),theNHSwasvoluntaryandthereforeelicitedalowerresponserate(69.3percent, comparedwith93.5percentforthe2006longͲformcensus)(StatisticsCanada2012).Itisexpectedthat thesurveylikelyundercountedmarginalizedgroupssuchasnewimmigrants,thoseonlowincomesand thosewithpoorerofficiallanguageskills. 2VisibleMinoritycategoriesaredefinedbythefederalgovernment.Theyareusefulinunderstandingthe experiencesofdifferentracializedgroups,butitisimportanttonotethattheyrelatetospecificcountries oforigininonlyafewcases(Filipinobeingoneofthem).Categoriessuchas‘Black’,‘Chinese’or‘South Asian’includeindividualswhoselfͲidentifyinthiswaybuttheyreflectverydiverseorigins.Chinese immigrants,forexample,mightoriginateinChina,HongKong,Singapore,Taiwan,Vietnam,Indonesia,the UnitedStatesoranywhereelsewithaChinesediasporacommunity. 3Asageographicalregion,SoutheastAsiaincludesthePhilippines,butinthiscasethecategoryrefersto SoutheastAsiansexcludingFilipinos.ThelargestgroupwithinthiscategorywouldbeVietnamese. 4‘Filipina’referstowomeninorfromthePhilippines,orwhoidentifyethnicallyasFilipina.Inthisreport weusethisgenderͲspecifictermwhenreferringexclusivelytowomen,andfollowthecommon conventionofusing‘Filipino’whenreferringtomenortobothmenandwomen. PromotingPostͲSecondaryPathwaysAmongFilipinoYouthinOntario 4 Thereisafurtheranomalythatisnotrevealedbythesedata.Theparentalcohortof firstgenerationimmigrantsfromthePhilippinesisunusuallyhighlyeducated.Again using2011NationalHouseholdSurveydata,Kelly(2014:13)showsthatapproximately 40percentoftheparentalgenerationhasauniversitydegree–edoubl theaveragefor thenonͲimmigrantpopulationinthesameagecohort,andsignificantlyhigherthan othercomparableimmigrantgroups.Giventhatuniversitygraduatesaremorelikelyto havechildrenwhothemselvesearndegrees,theoutcomesamongFilipinoyouthare unusual. Universityeducationshouldnot,ofcourse,beseenastheonlypathwaytosuccess,and nordoestakingthispathwaynecessarilyleadtosuccess.Nevertheless,thereisno escapingtheconclusionthattherearemanyyoungFilipinoͲCanadianmenandwomen inOntariowhocouldbenefitfromadvanceduniversityͲbasededucationbutwhoare notgettingaccessto suchprograms.Ourgoalinthisprojectistoidentifyreasonswhy thismightbethecase,andwaysitcanbeaddressed. ThesituationofFilipinoyouthhasbeennotedinsomequantitativestudies(e.g.Abada etal.2009;AbadaandLin,2011)andqualitativeresearchinVancouverhasexploredthe roleoffamilyseparationimposedbytheLiveͲInCaregiverprogram,whichplaysa significantroleinFilipinomigration(Prattetal.2008;FarralesandPratt,2012).Press reportshavealsodrawnattentiontothisissueinToronto(TorontoStar,June1st,2013).