The (mis)education of Pakistani immigrant youth.

This multi-sited ethnographic study relies on qualitative data collection methods (including interviews, focus groups, observations, and a collection of artifacts) to understand how working- and lower-middle class Pakistani immigrant youth negotiate their multiple worlds. Using a transnational lens, the study presents how various social institutions (family, school, communities) intersect and influence youth's socialization, sense of identity, feelings of belonging, and academic engagement. The study examines how gender-based expectations, class differences, language proficiency, and generation (i.e. age on arrival) influence youth's integration into American society. Because Pakistanis by and large are Muslim, a religious group that has come under increasing scrutiny since the terrorist attacks of September 11 th, 2001 on United States soil, this study also examines the ramifications of this event for the youth. The study argues that the "religification" of youth, that is the ascription of a religious identity, trumps other forms of racialization and significantly influences youth's identities and feelings of belonging, which in turn affects their academic engagement and socialization. Ultimately, the study argues that working- and lower-class Pakistani youth are being "miseducated" and that the ethnic community and the school play roles in this.