Hidden Diversity in the Balkans: Immigrant and Native Student Profiles in Comparative Perspective

Two weeks ago, I submitted a paper on the native–immigrant educational gap in the Balkans, prepared as part of a research grant supported by Scholars Without Borders. In that study, I used data from PISA 2022 and conducted Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) separately for immigrant and native students across five Balkan countries: Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, and Greece.

In an earlier blog post, I shared the findings for Serbia, focusing on the diversity of profiles among immigrant pupils. This time, I want to take a broader look and explore how student profiles differ between immigrant and native groups across the region — and how these patterns vary by country.

A Quick Reminder: What Is Latent Profile Analysis?

Unlike traditional approaches that compare average scores across demographic groups, LPA identifies subgroups of students with similar patterns of characteristics. These profiles were based on:

·       PISA math and reading performance

• Socioeconomic status (SES)

• Sense of school belonging

• Academic perseverance

• Exposure to bullying

This person-centered method reveals hidden diversity that would otherwise remain invisible in variable-based comparisons.

The Profiles: What Did We Find?

Across the five countries:

·       14 distinct profiles were identified among immigrant students (ranging from 4 in Montenegro to 7 in Greece)

·       16 profiles were found among native students (with greater heterogeneity due to larger sample sizes — 7 to 9 profiles per country)

Some profiles appeared in both groups, while others were unique to immigrants or to native students.

Shared Profiles (Immigrants and Natives)

Certain profiles were found in both immigrant and native student groups. These included:

·       Low SES, low achievement, low engagement, but not bullied (e.g., in Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia)

·       High SES and strong academic performance, but emotional disengagement

·       Low academic achievement combined with high perseverance and a sense of belonging — suggesting resilience despite learning difficulties

These profiles highlight structural issues in school systems — such as disengagement or emotional distance — that affect all students, not just immigrants.

🔵 Immigrant-Specific Profiles

Some profiles were observed only among immigrant students, reflecting distinct challenges and adaptation processes:

·       Victimized low achievers: low SES, low academic performance, weak school belonging, and high exposure to bullying

·       Low achievement and high bullying, combined with strong perseverance — showing resilience but also emotional vulnerability

·       High SES, low achievement, low engagement — indicating that economic advantage doesn't always translate into academic success in the host country

These immigrant-specific patterns reveal a mismatch between resources and outcomes, often involving trade-offs between academic achievement, emotional well-being, and social integration.

🌍 Country-Specific Patterns

Although some profiles were found in multiple countries, their prevalence varied widely depending on national context:

·       Croatia: The most common profile — for both groups — was low SES, low achievement, and low engagement, indicating broader systemic challenges not specific to immigration

·       Greece: Immigrant students were highly concentrated in at-risk profiles (81%), while native students showed a more even distribution

·       Slovenia: A wide gap emerged, with immigrant students clustered in low-SES, disengaged profiles, while native students were mostly in high-achieving, engaged profiles

·       Serbia: Immigrant and native students had similar structural profiles, but immigrant students reported lower emotional engagement, even in high-achieving groups

·       Montenegro: A unique case where immigrant students outperformed native students overall — possibly due to specific migration patterns in the country.

Here is the distribution of identified profiles among immigrant students in each country (only profiles found in at least two countries are shown)

For comparison, here is the distribution of identified profiles among native students

And below is a graph showing the overall prevalence of “at-risk” profiles among immigrant vs. native students

More Than Just a “Gap”

This analysis moves beyond the usual immigrant–native achievement gap. What it reveals instead is a difference in diversity:

• Immigrant students are more likely to fall into extreme profiles — either highly vulnerable or surprisingly resilient

• Native students show more moderate variation, but still face emotional challenges such as disengagement or bullying

• The most at-risk profiles (e.g., students who are bullied, low-achieving, with no sense of belonging or perseverance) were found only among immigrant students.

However, it’s important to recognize that not all challenges faced by immigrant students are unique to them. Patterns of low engagement, bullying, or emotional disconnection also affect native students. This means that interventions should not automatically assume that such problems stem from immigrant status. In some cases, what is perceived as ethnic or migrant-based discrimination may actually be rooted in broader school dynamics — such as peer hierarchies, teacher expectations, or institutional culture.

At the same time, it is necessary to avoid overgeneralizing immigrant students as a single category — their experiences are diverse and often polarized. We should also pay attention to hidden vulnerabilities, for example among high-SES or high-achieving students — emotional disengagement or bullying may still be present.