Mavis Gyesi, a PhD candidate in the University of Iowa’s Higher Education and Student Affairs program, conducts research on the educational experiences of African immigrants in U.S. high schools and their transition to college.
She recently interviewed 13 African immigrant students in Iowa high schools who come from different cultures and speak different languages and found that many of them take advanced courses in high school and aspire to go to four-year colleges, refuting stereotypes about African students as academically unmotivated or likely to fail.
The following excerpt is from a recent Q&A Gyesi had with The Conversation:
“What myths exist about African immigrants and their educational attainment?
Research shows that in K-12 schools, African immigrant children sometimes experience negative stereotyping and marginalization, with some students reporting that they think most Americans view them as underachievers and primitive, based on their accent, ethnicity, nationality and skin color. These low expectations from their teachers often follow Black immigrants in college, too. However, research also points out that these children are resilient and learn how to navigate schools that are culturally and linguistically different from the schools in their countries of origin.
There is a gap in data about African immigrants’ achievement in K-12 schools, largely because in most datasets, they are included in the same demographic as all Black students, immigrant and nonimmigrant alike. My research aims to separate these groups and find out how their needs and achievement levels may differ.
However, there is some data that dispels the myth that African immigrant children cannot – or do not want to – aim high in their education. Research shows that African immigrant students view college as an important steppingstone to achieving their career goals and having a higher quality of life. In my study, 12 out of the 13 students interviewed reported taking Advanced Placement classes. A few planned to participate in dual enrollment programs to earn college credit. ‘I thought AP classes would be the hardest things ever, but they’re really not that difficult if you’re paying attention,’ one student told me.
African immigrants are also highly educated as a whole. According to the Migration Policy Institute, sub-Saharan African immigrant adults in the U.S. have higher levels of education than the foreign-born population in general. In 2019, 42% of sub-Saharan African immigrants age 25 and older held a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 33% for all foreign- and U.S.-born adults combined.”