Promoting Post-Secondary Pathways Among Filipino Youth in Ontario

Various studies have shown that, in aggregate, the children of immigrants do relatively well in Ontario, and in Canada as a whole (Aydemir et al. 2008; Finnie and Muller, 2010; Reitz et al. 2011). Immigrant children graduate from university at significantly higher rates than their Canadian-born counterparts, and at higher rates than their parents. On face value, it might be assumed that there is an effective system of post-secondary access for new Canadians, and, more broadly, a pathway to upward social mobility for the children of immigrants.Within that aggregate pattern, however, there are some very wide variations in different immigrant communities and across genders.Studies in the literature on 1.5 and 2nd generation outcomes have therefore emphasized the need to understand group-specific dynamics when analyzing intergenerational social mobility (Abada et al. 2009; Anisef et al, 2010; Finnie and Muller, 2010; Abada and Lin, 2011).In this report, we examine the case of Filipino youth in Ontario, who represent an unexplained anomaly.Despite having parents with among the highest rates of university degree holdership of all immigrant groups, Filipino youth have among the lowest rates of university graduation. This applies particularly to those who arrive in Canada during childhood. Furthermore, while women have overtaken men in post-secondary educational achievement across all groups, the gender disparity in the Filipino community is especially pronounced. Young Filipino men have among the lowest rates of university graduation of any group.This report addresses the anomaly in a number of stages.First, we use statistical data to identify the patterns of Filipino youth educational outcomes in Ontario. Second the methods used in this project are explained.Third, we will examine the factors that our data suggests might lie behind the patterns of educational outcomes. In each case, we offer a series of policy and programming recommendations to address the issue.

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