In the last two decades Spain has evolved from being an emigrant country, to be one of the principal immigration recipient countries in Western Europe. One of the most relevant consequences in the long run for a country that experiences an episode of mass immigration is the emergence of the so-called second generation, either through family reunification processes (kinship-based immigrants), or new births in the host society. In Spain, second-generation immigrants are currently the fastest growing group of the population aged 18 or younger (Portes et al. 2011). This social phenomenon poses new challenges for the educational system, one of the main responsible of the incorporation of these young adults into society. This research analyses the interaction between young immigrants and formal education before and after the economic crisis in 2008. It identifies the factors (and their impact) that lead to poor academic performance in Catalonia (Spain), and therefore to lower chances of full incorporation into society in general, and the labour market in particular. A mixed-methods design is used in order to cover both the breadth and depth of the social phenomenon. The quantitative results conclude that the negative and statistically significant effect of the variable first generation on average grade loses its statistical significance after the introduction of control and key explanatory variables into the model. The qualitative results reveal mostly both how immigrant families face the problem of work-life balance, which hinders the school performance of their children; and how language policies and barriers ––as contingent traits–– might be limiting the academic capabilities of immigrant students in Catalonia.
