A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF JAPANESE, ITALIAN, AND MENNONITE CANADIANS : ASPIRATION VERSUS ACHIEVEMENT

Although Canadian culture is marked by a commonly shared value, material success, sub-groups within the society derive different interpretations of this central value system. This paper compares Japanese Canadians, Italian Canadians and Canadian Mennonites in their pursuits of the success value through educational and occupational aspirations. The analysis is based on the data gathered for another study, in which 450 Japanese Canadian, 450 Italian Canadian and 460 Mennonite families were interviewed. The samples were chosen to include children between the ages 10-15 and their parents. The success value encountered by Canadians óf Japanese and Italian ancestries was not a novel idea. Late nineteenth century Japanese society and mid-twentieth century Italian society propagated the importance of education. Thus, Japanese and Italian Canadians fit into the Canadian value system without difficulty, although they have not been very successful in fitting into the occupational structure. These minority groups are motivated toward success but have not had the opportunities to realize this success. Mennonites, on the other hand, did not endorse the value of material success and were in conflict with society. Mennonite children in this study who were good at school work tended to show symptoms of psychological maladjustment.