Three pathways
Portes and Zhou (1993) described upward assimilation into the middle class, downward assimilation into the urban underclass, and selective acculturation that preserves ethnic ties while achieving mobility. Outcomes depend on parental human capital, modes of incorporation and ethnic social capital.
Evidence
Portes and Rumbaut (2001) followed the second generation longitudinally, and Portes and colleagues (2005) and Haller and colleagues (2011) found some groups experience dropout, incarceration and early childbearing. The work connects to neighbourhood effects and intergenerational mobility.
Critiques
Alba and Nee (1997) redefined assimilation as declining ethnic distinction and stressed upward mobility, and Waters and colleagues (2010) found downward assimilation rarer than predicted. Zhou (1997) reviewed the debates, which also inform multiculturalism.
FAQ
- What is segmented assimilation in simple terms?
- The idea that immigrants' children integrate along different paths depending on their circumstances.
- What is downward assimilation?
- A path in which the second generation ends up with lower status than their parents.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Portes, A., & Zhou, M. (1993). The new second generation: Segmented assimilation and its variants. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 530(1), 74–96. The founding statement of the theory.
- Zhou, M. (1997). Segmented assimilation: Issues, controversies, and recent research on the new second generation. International Migration Review, 31(4), 975–1008. Reviews issues and controversies.
- Alba, R., & Nee, V. (1997). Rethinking assimilation theory for a new era of immigration. International Migration Review, 31(4), 826–874. An alternative rethinking of assimilation.
- Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2001). Legacies: The story of the immigrant second generation. University of California Press. Longitudinal evidence on the second generation.
- Portes, A., Fernández-Kelly, P., & Haller, W. (2005). Segmented assimilation on the ground: The new second generation in early adulthood. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 28(6), 1000–1040. Outcomes in early adulthood.
- Waters, M. C., Tran, V. C., Kasinitz, P., & Mollenkopf, J. H. (2010). Segmented assimilation revisited: Types of acculturation and socioeconomic mobility in young adulthood. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 33(7), 1168–1193. Revisits the theory with New York data.
- Haller, W., Portes, A., & Lynch, S. M. (2011). Dreams fulfilled, dreams shattered: Determinants of segmented assimilation in the second generation. Social Forces, 89(3), 733–762. Determinants of downward assimilation.