Exploring the Educational and Early Labor Market Pathways of High-Achieving, Disadvantaged Youth

• In Event: Sociology of Education Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 8. Pathways and Returns to Higher Education

Abstract

How do high-achieving Black and Latine students progress through high school and college and into the labor market? What factors promote successful transition to college, 4-year degree attainment and higher earnings for these students compared to their high-achieving White counterparts? What factors hinder them? While an abundance of literature in sociology has focused on the most vulnerable or at-risk Black and Latine students, less literature has focused on the highest achievers. In this paper, I compare high-achieving disadvantaged students (operationalized as to similarly high-achieving White students on variety of factors including high school academic records, parental support, and college enrollment patterns. Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLSSEM), I find that although high achieving Black and Latine students tend to have more risk factors in 10th grade (poverty, school mobility, etc.), they tend to be more resilient against risk as they progress through high school and into post-secondary education compared to White students. In other words, these risk factors do not have as strong an impact on the various other milestones along the pathway compared to White students. Still, high achieving Black and Latine students do not achieve the same level of socioeconomic success in their early careers as their White counterparts and early risk factors do maintain a strong direct impact on adult socioeconomic success of black and Latine young adults.

Author

• Tomeka M. Davis, Georgia State University