Abstract We focus our study on children of immigrants in science, technology, math, and engineeri... more Abstract We focus our study on children of immigrants in science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM) fields because children of immigrants represent a diverse pool of future talent in those fields. We posit that children of immigrants may have a higher propensity to prepare for entering STEM fields, and our analysis finds some evidence to support this conjecture. Using the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS: 88-00) and its restricted postsecondary transcript data, we examine three key milestones in the STEM pipeline: (1) highest math course taken during high school, (2) initial college major in STEM, and (3) bachelor’s degree attainment in STEM. Using individual level NELS data and country-level information from UNESCO and NSF, we find that children of immigrants of various countries of origin, with the exception of Mexicans, are more likely than children of natives to take higher-level math courses during high school. Asian and white children of immigrants are more likely to complete STEM degrees than third-generation whites. Drawing on theories of immigrant incorporation and cultural capital, we discuss the rationales for these patterns and the policy implications of these findings.
As children of immigrants have an increased presence in U.S. school systems, a growing literature... more As children of immigrants have an increased presence in U.S. school systems, a growing literature has begun to uncover the relationship between their language proficiencies and educational development. Little research has focused specifically on English-speaking Latinos/as, who make up the bulk of the Latino/a population, and the impact that Spanish maintenance might have on their educational outcomes. This research addresses the relationship between Spanish maintenance and academic achievement for Latino/a high school students who possess high levels of English proficiency. The findings reveal that biliteracy --the ability to read and write in both English and Spanish-- is associated with significantly higher achievement test scores in math and reading compared to English monolingualism. Oral proficiency in Spanish (without literacy), whether substantial or limited, appears to neither benefit nor hinder the academic achievement of English-speaking Latinos/as.
Scholars and the public alike expect children of immigrants without a college degree to fail to a... more Scholars and the public alike expect children of immigrants without a college degree to fail to assimilate into U.S. society (see for example Haller et al. 2011). Our research, however, leads us to a more optimistic point of view regarding the recent incorporation of working-class children of immigrants, although this may be changing in the aftermath of COVID-19. Focusing on the working-class children of Mexican immigrants in Dallas, Texas, we find that they have built on their parents’ positions, and successfully incorporated into society, despite working-class jobs and relatively low levels of education. In 2019, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area (thereafter DFW) “ranked first in the annual rate of job growth and second in the number of jobs added over the year” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2019). Dallas, with nearly a third of the population identifying as Mexican, and 38.3 percent identifying as Hispanic or Latino in the 2010 Census (U.S. Census B...
This chapter examines the success of the second generation in completing tertiary education in Be... more This chapter examines the success of the second generation in completing tertiary education in Belgium, Canada, England and Wales, France, the Netherlands and the USA (the only countries for which appropriate data were available). The ethnic inequalities found in higher education largely reflect patterns seen earlier in the educational career but there is at the same time clear evidence of progress relative to majority populations. Thus, if we compare the second-generation groups and countries which are covered in both Chapter 3 and Chapter 7, we find that there are thirteen significant ethnic penalties (that is, negative estimates after controls for socioeconomic background) in Chapter 3 (out of a total of twenty-seven that we estimated), but only three in Chapter 7. This is an important and novel finding, suggesting that higher education may give valuable ‘second chances’ to disadvantaged ethnic minorities. This pattern applies in all six countries.
This article examines high-school completion among key Latino immigration groups in the USA, with... more This article examines high-school completion among key Latino immigration groups in the USA, with a particular focus on the impacts of ethnicity, generation, language proficiencies, family structure and socioeconomic status. Family socioeconomic status has by far the largest impact on high-school completion. Poverty presents a persistent and daunting problem in high-school non-completion in the USA and is a primary contributor to Latino high-school non-completion. Addressing the issue of poverty is particularly important in the case of Mexicans, who make up the largest proportion of the immigrant population and whose levels of high-school completion are significantly lower than those of other groups. This research also highlights the impact of Spanish maintenance on high-school completion and indicates that high-level proficiency in both Spanish and English is associated with a greater likelihood to complete high school than Non-Hispanic whites when controlling for socioeconomic sta...
... Lutz * & Stephanie Crist * pages 346-368. ... Additional research has found t... more ... Lutz * & Stephanie Crist * pages 346-368. ... Additional research has found that girls translate and interpret for their families more often than boys; this work is structured along gendered lines and varies depending on the context (Valenzuela Jr. 199954. Valenzuela, Abel Jr. 1999. ...
... However, income may operate differently across ethnic lines, such that high income increases ... more ... However, income may operate differently across ethnic lines, such that high income increases Spanish proficiency for Cuban youth, who tend to be concentrated in an ethnic enclave that offers incentives to maintain Spanish in social, scholastic, and professional environments. ...
In this research article, Pamela R. Bennett and Amy Lutz offer new hypotheses about how state ban... more In this research article, Pamela R. Bennett and Amy Lutz offer new hypotheses about how state bans on affirmative action affect application decisions based on students’ beneficiary positions vis-à-vis affirmative action and evaluate them for black, white, Latino, and Asian American students separately. They posit that bans discourage applications to selective colleges from prospective students who benefit from affirmative action (black and Latino) and encourage applications from prospective students who do not benefit from the policy (white and Asian American). Members of nonbeneficiary groups that have strong academic credentials are more responsive to bans because they are best positioned for admission under restrictions on race-conscious admissions policies. Citing results from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002–2006, the authors show how state restrictions on race-conscious admissions have contributed to racial inequality in higher education by further drawing into elite i...
Although affirmative action in college admissions is constitutionally permissible, several states... more Although affirmative action in college admissions is constitutionally permissible, several states prohibit it. We investigate whether bans push black and Latino students from in-state public selective colleges to other types of postsecondary institutions, thus contributing to talent loss among these groups. Unlike most other studies, we analyze national data (the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009) so that we can follow students across state lines. We find no evidence that students from ban states shift from one type of selective college to another; that is, from in-state public flagships to in-state private ones or selective colleges in other states. However, the odds of attending a nonselective college, instead of an in-state public selective college, are almost three times higher among blacks and Latinos in ban states compared with their counterparts in states without bans. We argue that bans on affirmative action may contribute to talent loss among black and Latino students.
American selective colleges and universities use affirmative action policies to achieve diversity... more American selective colleges and universities use affirmative action policies to achieve diversity, given blacks and Latinos have somewhat lower SAT scores than their Asian and white peers. Critics of affirmative action argue that this results in lower grades and greater dropout among underrepresented minority groups. Using the Educational Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative longitudinal data set, we examine the relationship between SAT mismatch and college outcomes for students at selective institutions. We find that mismatch is not associated with graduation from a selective institution, but is associated with lower grades. The negative relationship between mismatch and grades holds for all racial-ethnic groups, not just blacks and Latinos, and is less predictive of academic performance than is high school grade point average. Thus, although mismatch may lower performance at selective colleges, it does not appear to prevent students who may have benefitted from affirmat...
Abstract We focus our study on children of immigrants in science, technology, math, and engineeri... more Abstract We focus our study on children of immigrants in science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM) fields because children of immigrants represent a diverse pool of future talent in those fields. We posit that children of immigrants may have a higher propensity to prepare for entering STEM fields, and our analysis finds some evidence to support this conjecture. Using the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS: 88-00) and its restricted postsecondary transcript data, we examine three key milestones in the STEM pipeline: (1) highest math course taken during high school, (2) initial college major in STEM, and (3) bachelor’s degree attainment in STEM. Using individual level NELS data and country-level information from UNESCO and NSF, we find that children of immigrants of various countries of origin, with the exception of Mexicans, are more likely than children of natives to take higher-level math courses during high school. Asian and white children of immigrants are more likely to complete STEM degrees than third-generation whites. Drawing on theories of immigrant incorporation and cultural capital, we discuss the rationales for these patterns and the policy implications of these findings.
As children of immigrants have an increased presence in U.S. school systems, a growing literature... more As children of immigrants have an increased presence in U.S. school systems, a growing literature has begun to uncover the relationship between their language proficiencies and educational development. Little research has focused specifically on English-speaking Latinos/as, who make up the bulk of the Latino/a population, and the impact that Spanish maintenance might have on their educational outcomes. This research addresses the relationship between Spanish maintenance and academic achievement for Latino/a high school students who possess high levels of English proficiency. The findings reveal that biliteracy --the ability to read and write in both English and Spanish-- is associated with significantly higher achievement test scores in math and reading compared to English monolingualism. Oral proficiency in Spanish (without literacy), whether substantial or limited, appears to neither benefit nor hinder the academic achievement of English-speaking Latinos/as.
Scholars and the public alike expect children of immigrants without a college degree to fail to a... more Scholars and the public alike expect children of immigrants without a college degree to fail to assimilate into U.S. society (see for example Haller et al. 2011). Our research, however, leads us to a more optimistic point of view regarding the recent incorporation of working-class children of immigrants, although this may be changing in the aftermath of COVID-19. Focusing on the working-class children of Mexican immigrants in Dallas, Texas, we find that they have built on their parents’ positions, and successfully incorporated into society, despite working-class jobs and relatively low levels of education. In 2019, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area (thereafter DFW) “ranked first in the annual rate of job growth and second in the number of jobs added over the year” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2019). Dallas, with nearly a third of the population identifying as Mexican, and 38.3 percent identifying as Hispanic or Latino in the 2010 Census (U.S. Census B...
This chapter examines the success of the second generation in completing tertiary education in Be... more This chapter examines the success of the second generation in completing tertiary education in Belgium, Canada, England and Wales, France, the Netherlands and the USA (the only countries for which appropriate data were available). The ethnic inequalities found in higher education largely reflect patterns seen earlier in the educational career but there is at the same time clear evidence of progress relative to majority populations. Thus, if we compare the second-generation groups and countries which are covered in both Chapter 3 and Chapter 7, we find that there are thirteen significant ethnic penalties (that is, negative estimates after controls for socioeconomic background) in Chapter 3 (out of a total of twenty-seven that we estimated), but only three in Chapter 7. This is an important and novel finding, suggesting that higher education may give valuable ‘second chances’ to disadvantaged ethnic minorities. This pattern applies in all six countries.
This article examines high-school completion among key Latino immigration groups in the USA, with... more This article examines high-school completion among key Latino immigration groups in the USA, with a particular focus on the impacts of ethnicity, generation, language proficiencies, family structure and socioeconomic status. Family socioeconomic status has by far the largest impact on high-school completion. Poverty presents a persistent and daunting problem in high-school non-completion in the USA and is a primary contributor to Latino high-school non-completion. Addressing the issue of poverty is particularly important in the case of Mexicans, who make up the largest proportion of the immigrant population and whose levels of high-school completion are significantly lower than those of other groups. This research also highlights the impact of Spanish maintenance on high-school completion and indicates that high-level proficiency in both Spanish and English is associated with a greater likelihood to complete high school than Non-Hispanic whites when controlling for socioeconomic sta...
... Lutz * & Stephanie Crist * pages 346-368. ... Additional research has found t... more ... Lutz * & Stephanie Crist * pages 346-368. ... Additional research has found that girls translate and interpret for their families more often than boys; this work is structured along gendered lines and varies depending on the context (Valenzuela Jr. 199954. Valenzuela, Abel Jr. 1999. ...
... However, income may operate differently across ethnic lines, such that high income increases ... more ... However, income may operate differently across ethnic lines, such that high income increases Spanish proficiency for Cuban youth, who tend to be concentrated in an ethnic enclave that offers incentives to maintain Spanish in social, scholastic, and professional environments. ...
In this research article, Pamela R. Bennett and Amy Lutz offer new hypotheses about how state ban... more In this research article, Pamela R. Bennett and Amy Lutz offer new hypotheses about how state bans on affirmative action affect application decisions based on students’ beneficiary positions vis-à-vis affirmative action and evaluate them for black, white, Latino, and Asian American students separately. They posit that bans discourage applications to selective colleges from prospective students who benefit from affirmative action (black and Latino) and encourage applications from prospective students who do not benefit from the policy (white and Asian American). Members of nonbeneficiary groups that have strong academic credentials are more responsive to bans because they are best positioned for admission under restrictions on race-conscious admissions policies. Citing results from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002–2006, the authors show how state restrictions on race-conscious admissions have contributed to racial inequality in higher education by further drawing into elite i...
Although affirmative action in college admissions is constitutionally permissible, several states... more Although affirmative action in college admissions is constitutionally permissible, several states prohibit it. We investigate whether bans push black and Latino students from in-state public selective colleges to other types of postsecondary institutions, thus contributing to talent loss among these groups. Unlike most other studies, we analyze national data (the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009) so that we can follow students across state lines. We find no evidence that students from ban states shift from one type of selective college to another; that is, from in-state public flagships to in-state private ones or selective colleges in other states. However, the odds of attending a nonselective college, instead of an in-state public selective college, are almost three times higher among blacks and Latinos in ban states compared with their counterparts in states without bans. We argue that bans on affirmative action may contribute to talent loss among black and Latino students.
American selective colleges and universities use affirmative action policies to achieve diversity... more American selective colleges and universities use affirmative action policies to achieve diversity, given blacks and Latinos have somewhat lower SAT scores than their Asian and white peers. Critics of affirmative action argue that this results in lower grades and greater dropout among underrepresented minority groups. Using the Educational Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative longitudinal data set, we examine the relationship between SAT mismatch and college outcomes for students at selective institutions. We find that mismatch is not associated with graduation from a selective institution, but is associated with lower grades. The negative relationship between mismatch and grades holds for all racial-ethnic groups, not just blacks and Latinos, and is less predictive of academic performance than is high school grade point average. Thus, although mismatch may lower performance at selective colleges, it does not appear to prevent students who may have benefitted from affirmat...
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