Educating Latinx in the United States: Understanding the Impact of Bilingualism on Postsecondary Outcomes

• In Event: Latinx Students and College Access

Abstract

In this paper we use a longitudinal dataset from IES to quantitatively analyze the impact of bilingualism on post-secondary outcomes for the Latinx community in the United States. To determine the sample, we used coarsened exact matching to compare Latinx students with similar characteristics, but different language proficiencies. Results from a series of Ordinary Least Squares regression indicated that bilinguals are 55 percentage points more likely than non-bilinguals to have any post-secondary education. Moreover, the interaction between gender and education shows that women are less likely than men to pursue post-secondary education. Finally, individuals whose parents were college educated, were more likely to attend post-secondary education. Directions for future studies and policy implications are discussed.

Authors

• Paul Polanco, The University of Texas - Arlington

• Doris Luft Baker, University of Texas at Austin