College Honors Program

From Relocation to Higher Education: An Empirical Analysis of Japanese American College Attainment Post-Internment

Date of Creation

5-17-2024

Document Type

Campus Access Only

First Advisor

Justin Svec

Abstract

In 1942, the United States government removed over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast and incarcerated them in internment camps. I investigate one potential lasting legacy of internment by empirically examining its effect on different age cohorts’ decisions to attend and complete college. Results indicate that college attainment rates decreased for internees 15 years after internment ended before increasing 25 years afterward relative to my West Coast non-Japanese Asian American control group. Additionally, I find that internment more greatly impacted those interned as older children and teenagers than those interned as younger children, and the effect’s magnitude was greater for males than females. To understand why college attainment changed in the decades following internment, I empirically explore internees’ loss of wealth. I also consider other alternatives including shifts in discrimination levels and family emphasis on education using accounts from former internees, including an interview I conducted. These findings provide broader insight into trauma’s various impacts on children and young adults.

Comments

Reader: Maria Rodrigues

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