New study shows second-generation Nigerian Americans’ educational attainment exceeds all other racial/ethnic groups in US including Asian Americans

A study highlighting the educational attainment of second-generation Nigerian Americans has sparked discussion online after being widely shared by academic Marc Porter Magee.

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In a post referencing research published in the journal Socius, Magee quoted findings suggesting that “the group that stands out the most is second-generation Nigerian Americans,” adding that “their educational attainment exceeds all other racial/ethnic groups, including Asian Americans.”

The study, titled The Socioeconomic Attainments of Second-Generation Nigerian and Other Black Americans: Evidence from the Current Population Survey, 2009 to 2019, analysed education and wage outcomes among second-generation Black Americans, with a particular focus on Nigerian Americans.

Authored by Arthur Sakamoto, Ernesto F. L. Amaral, Sharron Xuanren Wang and Courtney Nelson, the research found that second-generation Nigerian Americans recorded higher levels of educational attainment compared with several other demographic groups, including other second-generation Black Americans, third-generation African Americans, and even second-generation Asian Americans.

According to the study’s abstract, the findings also indicated that, after controlling for factors such as age, education and disability, the wages of second-generation Nigerian Americans had reached parity with those of third-generation white Americans.

Researchers noted that the results point to significant socioeconomic variation within Black American populations, influenced by factors such as ethnicity, gender and generational status, and called for further research in the area.

The findings have since gained traction on social media, where they have been widely discussed in the context of education, migration and socioeconomic outcomes in the United States.