The Role of Family in Immigrant-Origin Adolescents’ High School Choices

• In Event: Roundtable Session 79
  In Roundtable Session: Parents, Families, and Academic Outcomes

Abstract

This article draws on survey responses from 490 eighth grade students and interviews with 46 students at one large, high poverty middle school in New York City to explore the role that family members play in adolescents’ high school selections in the context of a mandatory choice policy. Specifically, it investigates how the nature and extent of family involvement differs by parent nativity and students’ immigrant generation. Survey results indicated that all students relied heavily on family members for decision-making support. Conversely, interviews revealed powerful variation in actual family involvement behaviors. The article discusses potential implications of the limited traditional family participation in high school choice described by children of Latin American immigrants and suggests a number of possible interventions.

Author

• Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, Seton Hall University