Exploring students' school engagement in relation to migration status and parents' educational level across diverse school contexts in Finland, Scotland and Sweden - UTU Research Portal

A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Exploring students' school engagement in relation to migration status and parents' educational level across diverse school contexts in Finland, Scotland and Sweden

Authors: Li, Shupin; Sarazin, Marc; Tarnanen, Mirja; Lund, Anna; Palonen, Tuire; Pantić, Nataša; Hökka, Päivi

Publisher: SAGE

Publication year: 2026

Journal: European Educational Research Journal

Article number: 14749041251409843

eISSN: 1474-9041

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14749041251409843

Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access

Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel

Web address : https://doi.org/10.1177/14749041251409843

Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/515799463

Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY

Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF

Abstract

This study examined students’ school engagement in relation to their migration status and their parents’ educational level across diverse school contexts with different density levels of migrant students. Altogether 1146 students (Mean_age = 13.65 years old) from seven schools in Finland, Scotland, and Sweden participated in the study. We obtained information about students’ school engagement and their demographics through a self-report survey. Results showed that migrant students demonstrated higher levels of control and relevance of schoolwork and future aspirations and goals, compared to their native peers. Students’ school engagement in migrant-medium schools (29%–33% students are migrants) was the lowest compared to that in migrant-dense schools (64%–77% students are migrants) and migrant-sparse schools (6%–10% students are migrants). Students whose mother’s educational level was higher reported higher levels of future aspirations and goals and family support for learning. Regardless of the density level of migrant students, schools depend on sufficient resources so that every student can engage in school.

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Funding information in the publication:
This work was funded by TEAMS project (Teaching that Matters for Migrant Students: Understanding Levers of Integration in Scotland, Finland and Sweden), Joint Nordic-UK Research Programme on Migration and Integration, NordForsk, 2020-2024 (grant number: 94935). Shupin Li was funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation (grant numbers: 00220614, 00250005).