Suhail Malik

Dr. Melina Probst-Martin

English 1102
February 28th, 2016
Is Having Immigrant Parents better?
My research question that I want to present brings forth an idea or stereotype that many
people witness in their day to day lives. The research question is whether having immigrant
parents or being an immigrant gives you a greater chance to be successful in the world. There are
millions of people in America that are immigrants or they have parents who are immigrants, but
is this an advantage or disadvantage for the individuals? Immigrants have a rough past which
they let go in order to embark on a new journey in their new countries. Many immigrants work
long and countless hours so they can provide for their families and build a proper structure for
their family in the new country. Lives of such people are filled with determination, hard-work,
and courage, which leads them to a state that they might have never imagined in their old
countries. However, what is the condition of those individuals who did not have to bear such
circumstances rather their parents migrated to a new land for the success and new opportunities
for their children. Are they as hardworking and determined to be successful as their parents? Are
they willing to sacrifice in order to have a better life?
The research question that I have chosen looks at whether having immigrant parents
gives you a better chance of being more successful. I chose this topic because I believe that
children of immigrant parents are likely to be more successful than those families who do not
have immigrant parents. Many people think that having immigrant parents is a disadvantage
because the parents do not know english, parents do not have much time for the children due to

work, or the huge cultural barrier that exists and bars immigrant parents from any interactions.
Factors such as these may play a big role in leading children of immigrant parents to be
unsuccessful, but the hard work, determination that immigrant children learn from their parents
definitely outweigh these factors. Immigrant parents instill in their children the value of hard
work and they instill in their children the vision of success through knowledge. Many children
who do not come from such families have everything set for them in their lives and usually do
not have such values in their lives. "I came when I was 11. My English was not great, and I was a
little immigrant girl in Miami," Eddinger says. "If someone had not seen the potential, I'd be
making widgets somewhere (Mentor). Immigrant parents see potential in their children and
know that this potential can only be achieved with effort. Comparing the success of such
individuals from immigrant and nonimmigrant families will truly help in realizing who is more
successful. Another factor too look at within this debate would be that of all immigrant families
do not have uneducated parents or parents who do know English. Some might have came from
different countries with a college degree or some might have come from a country that speaks
English, where do such individuals belong? Today, 25% of children under the age of 18--a total
of 18.7 million children--have an immigrant parent(Children). With a large amount of the
population coming from a family of immigrant parents, I think it also reflects not only on the
success of the the children, but the success and success of the countries that these people live in.
Doctors, engineers, and scientists all hail from immigrant parents and I think it's high time to
consider if having immigrant parents is an advantage or disadvantage?
Works Cited
Cooper, Kenneth J. "Mentor by design." Diverse Issues in Higher Education 17 Dec. 2015:
4.Academic OneFile. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.

Han, Young-chan, and Jennifer Love. "Stages of immigrant parent involvement--survivors to

leaders: meeting immigrant parents on their own terms is the optimal way to foster parent
engagement and thus student achievement." Phi Delta Kappan 97.4 (2015): 21. Academic
OneFile. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
Khaleque, Abdul, Farah Malik, and Ronald P. Rohner. "Differential Acculturation Among
Pakistani American Immigrant Parents and Children." Psychological Studies 60.4 (2015):
407+. Academic OneFile. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
Suarez-Orozco, Marcelo M., and Carola Suarez-Orozco. "Children of immigration: the
story of the children of immigration is deeply intertwined with the future of our nation."
Phi Delta Kappan 97.4 (2015): 8. Academic OneFile. Web. 29 Feb. 2016