This paper aims at expanding some findings of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2016), analysing the associations between European immigrant and non-immigrant students’ civic knowledge, perceptions of good citizenship, and expected civic engagement (students’ expected participation in legal/illegal activities and in electoral/political participation) using structural equation modelling. Descriptive analyses are also presented to investigate the extent to which immigrant students’ perceptions of different aspects of citizenship and their expected civic engagement differ from their native-born counterparts. Result show that immigrant adolescents who took part in the survey seem to prefer a type of engagement that does not trust the traditional methods related to electoral participation, but is willing to be committed to other forms of participation, either in political or legal activities, or even in illegal protests. The structural equation model highlighted no difference in the relation between immigrant and non-immigrant students’ perceptions of citizenship and their civic engagement, stressing the relevance that formal education plays in fostering students’ civic engagement during adulthood.
Keywords: ICCS 2016; immigrant students; civic engagement; citizenship perceptions; Europe.