| Recent immigration into the United States is characterized by an increase in the influx of people from Latin America, Asia and Africa (Larsen, 2004). The increased diversity of the immigrant population calls for greater attention to the needs of this population, particularly as immigrants and their children are entering the education system. A growing body of literature documents the experience of immigrant youth in schools and the implications of school engagement, and academic achievement for their future success (e.g., Suarez-Orozco, Suarez-Orozco & Todorova 2008). Vocational and ethnic identity represent different aspects of the implementation of the individual's self concept which are relevant to students' academic engagement and success (Kenny, Blustein, Haase, Jackson & Perry, 2006; Suarez-Orozco, et al., 2008). Previous research has examined separately the contribution of perceptions of discrimination and vocational variables to the school engagement experiences of immigrant students and students of color respectively; however, the collective contribution of these variables has not been studied. The present study brings together these two bodies of literature to understand the relationship between school engagement, perceptions of discrimination, vocational and ethnic identity variables in a sample of 125 Cape Verdean immigrant students. The participants were first through second generation high school students with at least three years of residence in the US.;Specific ethnic/acculturation profiles (ethnic, national, bicultural, and diffuse) developed by previous researchers were confirmed in this sample. Differences were found in perceptions of discrimination between those students in the bicultural and diffuse profiles. The results of a regression analysis indicate that perceived discrimination moderates the relationship between vocational variables (career planfulness and vocational identity) and school engagement. The third set of hypotheses, examining vocational variables as mediators of the relationship between perceptions of discrimination and school engagement were not supported. The findings highlight the importance of including considerations of ethnicity, acculturation and perceptions of discrimination as one considers the academic and vocational functioning of immigrant students. |
