1. Recency of Immigration to the
United States and Academic Success
Seattle University
Nur Icel – Head Investigator
Chris Kompar
Kat Dizon

2. History
 Immigrants thought to be less
intelligent in the 1920’s
(Goodwin, 2008).
◦ Intelligence tests at Ellis Island
◦ Biased

3. Previous Research
 Conflicting results in academic
performance vs. generation of
immigration

4. But…
 Lack of data on…
◦ Recency of immigration vs. academic
performance (GPA)
 Not across multiple ethnicities
◦ Would you be more academically
successful if your parents had immigrated
to the U.S.?

5. Hypothesis
Recency of immigration to the United States by one’s
guardians will have an effect on student’s GPA

6. Key Terms
 Recency of immigration
◦ # generations ago the participant’s ancestors
immigrated to the United States (U.S.).
 First-generation college student
◦ one whose guardians were born outside of
the U.S. and immigrated to the U.S. in their
lifetime

7. Method
 Participant’s perceptions of their
guardians vs. their own

8. Survey

9. Participants
Ethnicity # Participants
Asian/Pacific
Islander
43
African American 6
Caucasian 79
Hispanic 9
Native American 0
Other 7
Total 144
Male Female
58 86

10. Results

11. Guardian Happiness & GPA

12. Self-Happiness & GPA

13. Let’s compare…
 GPA correlated with perceived
guardian happiness but not with self-
happiness
 What does this suggest?
Students’ perception of
guardian(s):
Student:

14. College & Financial Stability
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Asian Caucasian Hispanic
FinancialStability
Ethnicity
/Pacific
Islander
*
#
• Does having a college degree ensure a financially stable life?

15. Limitations
 Overrepresented in Caucasian and
Asian/Pacific Islanders
 Affluent children generally do better
academically

16. Future Research
 Factor in guardian salaries
 More representative
◦ Multiple universities
◦ Multiple states

17. Questions?