Beyond an Education Gap: Educational Attainment for 1.5-Generation Immigrant and U.S-born Students

• In Event: 4412 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 03. Latina/o/xs and Education

Abstract

Using data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study 1991 – 2006 dataset, I assess the influences of innate characteristics and culture transmission on the students’ educational attainment. The findings suggest that the 1.5-generation immigrant, gender, English fluency, father’s educational attainment and family income significantly affected educational attainment among the students. No significant associations were found between the high school GPA and the discrimination variables in influencing educational attainment. Overall, the results provide evidence that measuring educational attainment is complex and often attainment is out of the control of the students and their families. Finally, it illustrates the limitations which could be addressed by further investigating the schools in terms of their access and ability to provide adequate learning facilities, programs and experiences for their students.

Author

• Angelica Ruvalcaba, Michigan State University