Low-Income Children of Latino Immigrants in a Well-Resourced High School

• In Event: 566 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Section on Latino/a Sociology Roundtables (one-hour). Table 01. Youth and Parents

Abstract

This study examines the social and academic experiences of low-income Latino students attending a well-resourced high school. Recent studies find that children of low-income Latino immigrants who have access to expanded educational opportunities are more likely to excel academically and exhibit exceptional intergenerational mobility (Kasinitz et al. 2009, Portes and Fernandez-Kelly 2008, Zhou et al. 2008). This suggests that attending well-resourced schools can mitigate socioeconomic disadvantage and facilitate social mobility. Yet, we know little about what goes on in resource-rich school contexts and how that impacts the opportunities and experiences of low-income students attending such schools. Furthermore, most studies on low-income students are based on the assumption that such children attend racially segregated and under-resourced schools and ignore the various pathways low-income parents utilize to get their children into “good” schools. Drawing on data from a case study of a well-resourced high performing high school, I explore the various mechanisms that lead to divergent outcomes within the low-income student population in a resource-rich context. Preliminary findings suggest that differences in outcomes are partly explained by differences in student response to messages of overt racism and belonging. For some students, negative messages from their peers are discouraging, for others it provides them with the impetus and a different type of “oppositional identity”—one that encourages them to “prove them wrong” and demonstrate competence and ability against all odds. This study contributes to the literature on the assimilation and mobility prospects of the children of the nation’s largest immigrant group.

Author

• Lorena Castro, Stanford University