Immigrants, Schooling and Social Mobility confronts a central issue in the study of immigration and ethnicity of the opposition between culture and structure, and presents a collection of essays that transcend simplistic either/or approaches to this issue. The contributions explore educational and economic mobility of immigrant groups in Europe and America.

Ethnic Differences, first published in 1989, explores how and why the Irish, Italians, Jews, and blacks of Providence, Rhode Island differed in their schooling and economic success. Drawing on evidence from thousands of students records of public, Catholic, and private schools, as well as on census manuscripts, city directories, and other sources, the book offers an integrated study of American ethnicity, education, and social structure. Joel Perlmann examines the extent to which differing career patterns, and reconsiders the relation between ethnicity and social class.

Joel Perlmann traces the history of U.S. classification of immigrants, from Ellis Island to the present day, showing how slippery and contested ideas about racial, national, and ethnic difference have been. His focus ranges from the 1897 List of Races and Peoples, through changes in the civil rights era, to proposals for reform of the 2020 Census.