Date of Award:

12-2011

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

Melanie M. Domenech Rodríguez

Committee

Melanie M. Domenech Rodríguez

Committee

Gayle Morse

Committee

Susan L. Crowley

Committee

Rand Conger

Abstract

An increasingly diversifying educational landscape in the United States has accompanied distressing academic disparities among ethnic minority youths. As Latinos represent the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority group within the U.S., particular attention to their academic outcomes is warranted. Alarming educational statistics have been reported for Latinos, with some estimating that nearly half fail to complete high school, and only a fraction go on to complete a degree in higher education. As Latinos grow to represent an increasing segment of the American educational system, more attention is required to understand what leads Latinos to engage (or disengage) in the educational process.

The current investigation analyzes data from the California Families Project, an ongoing research program following Mexican American families as their children advance through elementary, middle, and high school. The present investigation is a secondary analysis of data obtained by interviewing 365 Mexican American families with a child currently enrolled in the fifth grade. This project aimed to explore the extent to which Mexican American youths experienced discrimination within the school system by both peers and teachers, and what potential role those experiences had in understanding their academic self-efficacy and abilities. In addition, this study explored the role of various parenting practices and attitudes in two domains (academic and cultural) in possibly mitigating the influence of discrimination on academic outcomes for their children. The study generally found that discrimination related to certain measures of academic outcomes, particularly self-efficacy (defined as feeling able to attain a level of education commensurate or exceeding a level which one desired) and verbal abilities. In addition, this study showed that while parenting behaviors and attitudes related to academic outcomes, none buffered the effect of discrimination to a significant degree.

This study holds implications for understanding Latino academic outcomes. The investigation suggests that by fifth grade, Mexican American youths are often already experiencing discrimination to an extent that it may impact their perceived ability to attain their educational goals. In addition, the findings from this study suggest that the influence of parents’ behaviors and attitudes at this time may be limited. Discrimination experiences were significantly more powerful than parenting for the families in this study. While this study was methodologically limited by cross-sectional design and had rigorous inclusion criteria, these results may suggest that by this point in the developmental trajectory of Mexican American youths, it may be more powerfully indicated to intervene at the level of the academic institution rather than solely within the familial context. These results highlight the ongoing necessity of schools to make the academic environment one where Mexican American youths feel welcomed, included, and valued.

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2053174daeb2be0a9f60815ea59dae85

Comments

Publication made available electronically December 21, 2011.

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