The Multicultural Politics of Opportunity: A Comparative Analysis of the Occupational Aspirations of Immigrant Adolescents

Abstract

Despite the growing volume of research on multiculturalism, disagreements abound regarding whether multiculturalism is truly effective for the integration of immigrant youth. However, little effort has been made to make sense of these disagreements. In the present study, we raise the possibility that multiculturalism is more likely to achieve its intended goal in countries that have developed egalitarian structures of opportunity. Cross-national multilevel data were used to analyze the occupational aspirations of 41,235 immigrant adolescents from 31 countries. The data reveal that immigrant adolescents tend to show a higher level of occupational aspirations in countries with stronger multiculturalism, but this pattern holds only among countries that have developed egalitarian economic systems. We conclude that the aspirations of immigrant adolescents depend not only on the “politics of identity” but also on its interplay with the “politics of opportunity”—the politico-economic landscape of the distribution of opportunities.