Persistent Inequalities in Leveraging Social Capital Across Borders

• In Event: 69.057 - Roundtable Session 32
  In Roundtable Session: 69.057-4 - Immigrant Students Engaging With Privilege, Power, and Social Capital

Abstract

Transnational students in STEM fields may be able to accumulate social capital across borders. Accumulation of social capital may lead them to pursue their parents’ careers, even if they are members of an underrepresented group, such as women studying engineering. Using data gathered from in-depth, first-person interview with Latinas in engineering at a Hispanic Serving Institution, transnationals of differing social status are compared to illustrate persistent inequalities across national borders. Affluent transnationals may accumulate social capital through their schooling, bi-/multilingualism and professional connections. In contrast, less privileged transnationals, especially those not able to travel internationally, are straddled with legal and educational burdens. For them, relationships with neighbors, teachers, and families are especially valuable to choose—and persist in—engineering studies.

Author

• Alberto Esquinca, The University of Texas - El Paso