Mexican-American Postsecondary Pathways: Investigating the College Attendance Gap
Awarded to Sarah Ovink (graduate student), National Science Foundation, $7,500.
The proposed dissertation will investigate the
following: 1) What are the educational motivations, aspirations and
expectations of Mexican-American high school seniors? Do they differ by gender?
2) What factors (including incentives and resources) lead Mexican-American high
school seniors to choose a college-bound path, and how do these factors differ
by gender? 3) What mechanisms can account for the formation of college
aspirations, and do these processes differ by gender? 4) What do Mexican
Americans perceive as the returns to college completion? Do perceptions differ
by gender, and if so, do differing perceptions lead to differing aspirations
and expectations? Semi-structured, in-depth interviews will be conducted with
60 Mexican-American high school seniors at two “typical” San Francisco Bay area
public high schools. The interviews will be conducted at three time-points,
with the final interview occurring several months after their graduation date.
This qualitative data will be then used to propose an improved model of Mexican
Americans’ postsecondary pathways. This model will be tested with the first and
second follow-ups to the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS) using
logistic regression. The aim of this model is to expand upon research question
2, using a national probability sample of Mexican-American students. It is
anticipated that differential returns to education is the most plausible
explanation for the Mexican-American gender gap in college attainment, though
this advantage is mitigated by differential resources and motivations.
Lois Wolk Seminar
Mexican-American Postsecondary Pathways: Investigating the College Attendance Gap