Linking migration and education across generations: Ismailis in Vancouver

Research pertaining to Canadian-born children of immigrant parents is sparse; that on refugees’ children in Canada is even more lacking. Drawing on interviews with Canadian-born Ismaili Muslims and their East African parents in Lower Mainland, B.C., this research explores how first and second generation Ismailis negotiate the educational upbringing of second generation children in tandem with the personal geographies of the first generation. The aim is to fill the gap in immigrant research in relation to Ismailis from East Africa, and augment the literature on second generation adult children in North America by examining how Ismaili parents’ migration histories condition first and second generation perceptions and expectations of education. In so doing, my analysis suggests that Ismaili parents’ migration histories from East Africa are deeply rooted in the educational expectations and upbringing of their second generation children.