Migration, Mobility and Education

This book examines the role of family and schooling through an interpretive, qualitative, intergenerational case study. It examines the formation of academic and vocational aspirations by second generation (G2) migrant students from diverse international backgrounds. Looking at the influence of family background, the changes and impacts of the migrant experience, and the effectiveness of the Academy, Hoskins and Barker interpret the successes of a cohort of sixth form migrant students from diverse backgrounds. They ask key questions about how participants perceive their lived experiences and imagined futures; how their aspirations and identities relate to their background circumstances; and in what ways the school and teachers enable and facilitate their future progress and potential career pathways. The findings challenge prevailing pessimism about the role of families and schools in enabling social mobility; and suggests the possibility that there may be important messages here for social mobility more widely. How do G2 migrants buck the trend?A valuable resource for scholars of social mobility as well as for educators – especially those working with migrant learners. The use of theory, policy analysis and genealogy will provide students with accessible social mobility case studies.

Kate Hoskins is Professor in Education at Brunel University of London. Her research interests rest on the intersections between education and social policy, identity and inequalities in relation to early years, further and higher education. Kate’s most recent research on social mobility with Professor Bernard Barker entitled STEM, Social Mobility and Equality examines the role of the family in intra‑ and inter‑generational social movement. They take a unique genealogical approach to researching social mobility, using a university chemistry department as a case study to explore participants’ motives for pursuing a STEM undergraduate degree and the influences that have shaped them.Bernard Barker is Emeritus Professor of educational leadership and management at the School of Education, University of Leicester and governor of Cambourne Village College near Cambridge. His recent publications include The Pendulum Swings: Transforming School Reform (2010), Human Resource Management in Education: Contexts, Themes and Impact, with Justine Mercer and Richard Bird (2010), Education and Social Mobility: Dreams of Success (2014) with Kate Hoskins, Busking Latin: A Memoir (2019), STEM, Social Mobility and Equality, also with Kate Hoskins (2020) and Travels with a Honda in Yorkshire (2023).