Fast Facts
- The children of immigrants are the fastest-growing segment of children less than 18 years old in the United States and are changing the face of education.
- Immigrants are more likely than the U.S.-born to be self-employed and immigrant children are more likely to come from entrepreneurial backgrounds.
- This study offers a rare insight into the changing landscape of higher education through portraits of ethnically diverse graduate students whose parents had their own businesses.
- Growing up in a business environment that typically involved direct and constant contact with the public, these children of immigrant entrepreneurs learned not only business survival skills but also useful social skills.
- Such an environment ingrained in them a strong work ethic. They learned that success and sacrifice go hand-in-hand.
- They feel a deep-seated desire to give back to their immigrant communities. This is reflected in their research fields (e.g. urban planning), choice of degrees (public health, education), extra-curricular activities (foreign languages) and choice of work (social work).
- There is an inherent appreciation among the adult children of immigrant entrepreneurs for the sacrifices their parents made to ensure that they have successful careers and lead normal lives in their adopted homeland.