School Victimization, Immigration, Dropping Out, and Gender Disparities

The children of immigrants face a number of educational hurdles, such as disparate rates of victimization and increased risk of dropping out of high school. Few studies have explored how school victimization can explain the relationship between immigrant generation status and the likelihood of dropping out. The current study explores if, and how, the associations between school victimization, feeling unsafe at school, and dropping out vary across immigration generations andgender. Data are drawn from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002. The sample for this study consists of 9,870 first (N = 1,170, 12%), second (N = 1,540, 16%), and third-plus (N = 7,160, 73%) generation, female (N = 5,050; 51%), and male (4,820; 49%) students in 580 public schools. Results indicate partial support for segmented assimilation and highlight important nuances related to immigrant generation status.in relation to key variables. For both males and females, generational status, victimization, and feeling unsafe at school significantly influence the likelihood (positively and negatively) of dropping out. In regard to school victimization, first generation females are less likely to drop out than third-plus generation females. For males, victimization at school generally decreases their likelihood of dropping out, except for second generation males who have an increased likelihood of dropping out. Females who feel unsafe are generally more likely to drop out, with no significant differences across generations. For males, feeling unsafe at school generally increases the likelihood of dropping out, except for second generation males who have a decreased likelihood of dropping out.