District Demographics and Diverging Pathways: How School Context Shapes College Attendance

• In Event: Sociology of Education Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 19. Local, State, and Regional Landscapes and Educational Experiences

Abstract

Despite being one of the fastest growing populations in U.S. schools, Latino youth experience persistent disadvantages in their pathways to college, especially compared to their White peers. Past research suggests that many differences in college pathways for Latino youth are tied to high school college-preparation, which is significantly affected by the districts and schools youth attend. In Texas, Latino youth disproportionately attend schools in highly segregated districts, with some youth also attending districts with high immigrant populations. There are competing implications of Latino and immigrant district composition which are understudied due to data limitations and complicated by the shifting legal and social realities that both immigrant and non-immigrant Latinos and their families contend with in the U.S. Using linked student-level administrative data and district-level population estimates, I compare the high school college preparation of Latino youth across districts in Texas by their Latino and immigrant composition considering both characteristics of students and their parents. I model how the Latino and immigrant composition of districts creates different college pathways for Latino youth. Specifically showing how high immigrant districts can positively shape Latino educational pathways, but when considered in conjunction with the Latino composition of a district, Latino college pathways reflect larger patterns of inequality in school segregation. Through these findings I bridge together bodies of research on Latino youths’ transition to adulthood and educational pathways with immigration literature on the racialization of immigration status. I highlight a demographic case in Texas where inequalities around race and immigration will increasingly shape youth of future generations.

Author

• Katarina Huss, University of Texas-Austin