Ambivalence: exploring the American university experience of the children of immigrants

Survey data from a large and diverse urban university in the US revealed a significant commitment among incoming students to the value of a multi‐ethnic student body; students who were the children of immigrants expressed this value most strongly. However, follow‐up interviews with these second‐generation Americans, now in their third year at the university, found them avoiding interaction with students who were unlike themselves, particularly those who were first‐generation American. These students complained about the self‐segregation and native‐language maintenance of foreign‐born students, but restricted themselves to English and constructed their own second‐generation university niches; they chose ethnic over pan‐ethnic or biracial identities and often favored the security of living at home. Thus, despite being themselves the primary source diversity in American higher education and its ostensive supporters, in their years at the university, these children of immigrants narrowed rather than broadened their identities and interactions.