We review the literature on segmented assimilation and alternative theoretical models on the adaptation of the second generation ; summarize the theoretical framework developed in the course of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study [CILS]; and present evidence from its third survey in South Florida bearing on alternative hypotheses. We find that the majority of second-generation youths are moving ahead educationally and occupationally, but that a significant minority is being left behind. The latter group is not distributed randomly across nationalities, but corresponds closely to predictions based on immigrant parents’ human capital, family type, and modes of incorporation. While it is clear that members of the second generation , whether successful or unsuccessful will assimilate – in the sense of learning English and American culture – it makes a great deal of difference whether they do so by joining the mainstream middle-class or the marginalized, and largely racialized, population at the bottom. Narratives drawn from the ethnographic module accompanying the survey put into perspective quantitative results and highlight the realities of segmented assimilation as it takes place today in U.S. society.

This paper summarises a research programme on the new immigrant second generation initiated in the early 1990s and completed in 2006. The four field waves of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS) are described and the main theoretical models emerging from it are presented and graphically summarised. After considering critical views of this theory, we present the most recent results from this longitudinal research programme in the form of quantitative models predicting downward assimilation in early adulthood and qualitative interviews identifying ways for the disadvantaged children of immigrants to escape it. Quantitative results strongly support the predicted effects of exogenous variables identified by segmented assimilation theory and identify the intervening factors during adolescence that mediate their influence on adult outcomes. Qualitative evidence gathered during the last stage of the study points to three factors that can lead to exceptional educational achievement among disadvantaged youths, and which indicate the positive influence of selective acculturation. Finally, the implications of these findings for theory and policy are discussed.

We summarize prior theories on the adaptation process of the contemporary immigrant second generation as a prelude to presenting additive and interact

This article draws on the insights of research on transnational migration to reconsider the process of identity formation among children of immigrants and the patterns of acculturation associated with different trajectories of segmented assimilation. Extending the research on segmented assimilation and identity formation among children of immigrants in early adulthood, the article uses the third wave of the Miami CILS sample to examine the relationship between segmented assimilation outcomes, nationality, and behaviours and attitudes associated with transnationalism. Key findings include evidence associating selective acculturation with greater transnational involvement, but also some limited evidence of downward assimilation associated with higher rates of sending remittances among some nationalities. Rather than contradicting each other, these findings suggest a diversity of transnational patterns that are both stratified by class and contoured by nationality and ethnicity. We conclude by outlining some of the questionnaire items and aspects of research design we would like to see implemented in future studies of transnationalism and its relationship with segmented assimilation.