Latino/White Differences in Educational Expectations

• In Event: 435 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 13. Race/Ethnic Gaps across Educational Outcomes

Abstract

To understand why Latinos are disadvantaged compared to whites in making the transition to college, one important piece of the puzzle is to understand any Latino/white differences in expectation formation. Current research points to cultural explanations for Latinos’ lower postsecondary transition rates. However, alternative explanations for Latino/white differences in educational expectations have not been explored. In this study, we use the nationally representative Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) to predict whether Latinos differ from whites in their educational expectations and investigate what might account for this difference. Our study builds on current knowledge about Latino/white differences in educational expectations and adds three important contributions. First, we incorporate measures about parents’ preferences for their child’s college experience that may inhibit students’ postsecondary trajectories. Second, Latinos typically have lower amounts of social capital than whites and therefore may be a key factor that influences educational expectations differently for Latinos than for whites. Third, we include measures of families’ financial preparation for the financial burden of college as potentially influencing their educational expectations. We find that parental preferences for children’s college experience are negatively associated with college educational expectations, but that this effect is moderated by social capital. In addition, we find that increased social capital translates into higher educational expectations for whites and African-Americans, but not for Latinos. We discuss implications for future research.

Authors

• Amy Gill Langenkamp, University of Notre Dame

• Andrew Hoyt, University of Notre Dame