Acculturation and Planning for College among Youth of Mexican Descent

Abstract

This research examined associations between acculturation, college planning, and college attendance in 410junior and senior high school students. Participants, of which three quarters were of Mexican descent and one quarter was of European descent, completed Cuellar; Harris, and Jasso's acculturation scale and a college-planning survey. Ten months later; 116 of the 148 participating seniors were interviewed to determine if they went to college and what resources helped them get there. Acculturation among Mexican American youth was not related to either wanting to go to college or engaging in practical actions to get there. For adolescents of both ethnicities, fathers' education influenced adolescents'college aspirations and their college-planning behaviors. Acculturation was predictive of college attendance among Mexican American adolescents.

Explaining the Gender Disparity in Latino Youth’s Education: Acculturation and Economic Value of Education

“…Existing research supports a relationship between acculturation status and academic achievement (e.g., Hurtado & Gauvain, 1997). However, no significant relationships were found in the present study when acculturation status was determined by the Felix-Ortiz et al (1994) measure.…”

“…Research demonstrates that a high orientation to U.S. culture is related to academic success and predictive of college attendance among Mexican American high school students (Hurtado & Gauvain, 1997;Manaster & Chan, 1992). Other research illustrates that Mexican American adolescents who identify with both cultures equally (i.e., bicultural or integrated) have better educational attainment and academic achievement than those who identify almost solely with either culture (López et al, 2002).…”

The Influence of Gender, Generation Level, Parents' Education Level, and Perceived Barriers on the Educational Aspirations of Mexican American High School Students

“…Additionally, a study on Latina college students (Cardoza, 1991) did support the relation between mother's education level and educational aspirations. In contrast, a study on a sample of predominantly Mexican American high school students (Hurtado & Gauvain, 1997) revealed that father's education level significantly explained variance in college aspirations. Although mothers and fathers may play a different role in career development (O'Brien, Friedman, Tipton, & Linn, 2000), our study concluded that neither parent's education level uniquely predicted educational aspirations of Mexican American high school students.…”

No place like home? Familism and Latino/a–white differences in college pathways

“…Gonzalez et al (2003) found that Latinas with increased access to cultural and social capital in school were more likely to enter selective universities; those who did not tended to choose community college. Students' level of acculturation may affect the ability to accumulate social and cultural capital via schools (Hurtado and Gauvain, 1997), leaving highly mobile and limited-English students at a disadvantage (Ream, 2003). In at least one study of Mexican-origin students, higher grades, expectations, and bilingual abilities were associated with greater access to valuable social capital (Stanton-Salazar and Dornbusch, 1995).…”