Beyond the deficit-based paradigm: the educational and occupational achievements of second-generation Ethiopians in the United States

This study examines the educational and occupational experiences of 36 U.S.-raised second-generation Ethiopian Americans surveyed in 2022, with a focal analytic subsample of 15 respondents whose parents had a high school education or less as measured in the U.S. context. Findings show significant upward mobility among the focal subsample: 11 of 15 (73%) attained a bachelor’s degree or higher, including 4 of 15 (27%) who completed graduate degrees, surpassing their parents’ education levels. Many participants have moved into highly skilled professions, moving away from their parents’ service-oriented jobs. Factors contributing to success include parents’ education before immigration, gender dynamics, cultural values, and community involvement. Gender dynamics play a pivotal role, with mothers often actively involved in fostering bicultural integration and academic achievement. While contributing to the broader literature on upward mobility in immigrant families, hese findings highlights how parents’ pre-immigration human capital and dense co-ethnic networks can generate forms of selective acculturation that support mobility into professional occupations among working-class immigrant Ethiopian families in U.S. labor markets.