Latino Diversity in the Top Tier of American Higher Education

Latino Diversity in the Top Tier of American Higher Education

Margarita Mooney

Office of Population Research

Department of Sociology

Princeton University

May 5, 2006

Why Study Hispanics and Education? Hispanics/Latinos are the minority group in the United

States and growing fast 35.3 million Latinos in the US in 2002, or 12.5% of population. 57.9% growth rate from 1990-2000.

Hispanic-White education gap is even larger than Black-White Hispanics are less likely to enroll in college than both blacks and

whites. When Hispanics do enroll in college, they are more likely than

whites or blacks to enroll in 2-year rather than 4 year colleges.

Educational Attainment by Hispanic Origin: 2002

Perc

ent

(Population 25 years and over)(Population 25 years and over)

27.0

16.0

27.9

18.0

11.1

4.0

7.3

33.0

26.3

29.4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Less than 9thgrade

9th to 12thgrade (nodiploma)

High schoolgraduate

Some college Bachelor'sdegree or

more

Hispanic Non-Hispanic White

Source: Current Population Survey, March 2002, PGP-5

Percent of Population with a Bachelor’s Degree Percent of Population with a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher by Hispanic Origin: 2002or Higher by Hispanic Origin: 2002

Perc

ent

(Population 25 years and over)(Population 25 years and over)

11.1

7.6

14.0

18.617.3

29.4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Hispanic Mexican Puerto Rican Cuban Central andSouth

American

Non-HispanicWhite


Who are Hispanics?

The term “Hispanic” was first used on 1970 census. 2000 census question: “Is this person

Spanish/Hispanic/Latino?” If yes, specify: 1) Mexican/Mexican-American/Chicano; 2) Puerto Rican ; 3) Cuban ; 4) Other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino. Name.

On 2000 census, 17.3% (6.1 million people) of total Hispanic population chose “other” but did not give a detailed origin. This group is second in size only to Mexican origin group.

Percent Distribution of Percent Distribution of HispanicsHispanicsby Type: 2002by Type: 2002

Cuban3.7%

Puerto Rican8.6%

Mexican66.9%

Central and South

American14.3%

Other Hispanic

6.5%


What is NLSF?

NLSF was designed to provide comprehensive data to test different theoretical explanations for minority underperformance in college.

Data was collected in five waves, twice in freshmen year, and then each spring after that.

Total sample size of 3,924 students at 28 of most selective colleges and universities in the United States

NLSF Respondents by Race/Ethnicity

Black, 1051

White, 998Hispanic, 916

Asian, 959

Schools Participating in NLSF

Liberal Arts Colleges Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Denison, Oberlin, Smith, Swarhmore,

Wesleyan, WilliamsPrivate Research Universities Columbia, Emory, Georgetown, Northwestern, Princeton, Rice,

Stanford, Tufts, Tulane, U. Pennsylvania, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Washington U., Yale

Public Research Universities Penn State, Miami (OH), UC-Berkeley, U. Michigan-Ann Arbor,

UNC-Chapel HillHistorically Black Colleges Howard

Research Questions

Do Latinos underachieve relative to their white peers at selective colleges and universities?

How do Latinos of specific national origin groups compare to their White, Black and Asian peers?

Why study Latinos at the most selective schools? Selective universities draw from a

nationwide applicant pool, thus the Latino student population is likely very diverse.

Highly selective colleges and universities don’t just give an education, they shape class culture, inform social consciousness and cultivate leaders.

Latino Diveristy in NLSF

26%

10%

5%

3%5%16%

29%

6%Mexican

Puerto Rican

Cuban

Dominican

Central American

South American

Mixed Race

Other

How do students on NLSF self-report their ID? #1: Why can’t I just be American?

“my mother is Mexican and my father is Asian. I consider myself American.”

#2: Complex Reductionism “my mom’s puerto rican and my mom {dad} is from

Nicaraguan and is black, I have some Irish and some Native American. I mostly just say that I am hispanic Puerto Rican.

#3: All of the above. “While Mexican, I am a mixture of White and Black and

Native America”

How do students on NLSF self-report their ID? #4: I don’t like your categories.

“why does it say hispanic white or hispanic black? I’m just hispanic. I’m assuming hispanic white, but there is no number.”

“Mexican-American. Non-white. Non-Black.” “Central American and Puerto Rican but raised as

Central American. “mestiza” in Spanish” #5: I’m still figuring it out…

“father is puerto rican and my mother is extremely white”

Latino Diversity in NLSF

289, 30%

123, 13%

187, 20%

247, 26%

100, 11%

Mexican/Central American

Puerto Rican/Dominican

Cuban/South American

Hispanic mixed with white

Hispanic mixed with otherminority

Percent Distribution of Percent Distribution of HispanicsHispanicsby Type: 2002by Type: 2002

Cuban3.7%

Puerto Rican8.6%

Mexican66.9%

Central and South

American14.3%

Other Hispanic

6.5%


GPA by 4 Major Racial/Ethnic Groups

3.39

3.05

3.19

3.38

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

Asian White Black Hispanic

GPA by Ethnicity & Latino Origin

3.38 3.39

3.053.19 3.17 3.14

3.25 3.25

3.05

2.8

3

3.2

3.4

3.6

Asian

White

Black

Hispa

nic

Mexic

an/Ce

ntral

Ameri

can

Puert

oRic

an/Do

minica

n

Cuba

n/Sou

thAm

erica

n

Hispa

nic M

ixed

with N

H-Wh

ite

Hispa

nic M

ixed

with O

ther

Minori

ty

Overall Graduation Rates

0.86

0.78

0.920.91

0.7

0.75

0.8

0.85

0.9

0.95


Overall Graduation/Diverse Latinos

0.91 0.92

0.78

0.86

0.81

0.900.88 0.89

0.80

0.7

0.75

0.8

0.85

0.9

0.95

Asian

Whit

e

Black

Hisp

anic

Mexic

an/C

entra

lAm

erica

n

Puer

toRi

can/D

omini

can

Cuba

n/Sou

thAm

erica

n

Hisp

anic

Mixe

dwi

th NH

-Whit

e

Hisp

anic

Mixe

dwi

th Ot

her

Mino

rity

On Time Graduation

0.58

0.73

0.55

0.63

0.4

0.45

0.5

0.55

0.6

0.65

0.7

0.75

0.8


On Time Graduation/Diverse Latinos

0.73

0.55

0.63

0.55

0.63

0.69 0.68

0.570.58

0.4

0.45

0.5

0.55

0.6

0.65

0.7

0.75

0.8As

ian

Whi

te

Blac

k

Hisp

anic

Mex

ican

/Cen

tral

Amer

ican

Puer

toRi

can/

Dom

inic

an

Cuba

n/So

uth

Amer

ican

Hisp

anic

Mix

edwi

th N

H-W

hite

Hisp

anic

Mix

edwi

th O

ther

Min

ority

But are these differences statistically significant? Hispanics Compared to Whites

If we just compare Hispanics to whites, we observe an achievement gap. If we break the Hispanics down by national origins, we see that it Mex/CA, PR/Dom, and Hispanics mixed with other minorities drive the differences. One exception: PR/Dom overall graduation rates are not lower than whites.

Hispanics Compared to Blacks Mex/CA and PR/Dom, as well as Hispanic Mixed with Other

Minorities are not much different than blacks. One exception: PR/Dom overall graduation rates are higher than blacks.

Regression Models

3 outcomes: College GPA, Overall Graduation Rate, and On-Time Graduation Rate

3 Models A. Base Model: Comparing Across 4 Major Ethnic

Groups B. Diverse Latinos Model: 3 Ethnic Groups + Latinos

Broken Down by National Origin C. Model B + Control Variables (Respondent/Family

Traits, Parents’ Education, Family Economic Status, HS Attended/Achievement, Psychological Preparation)

Results GPA

Ethnic differences persist in all models Overall Graduation Rates

Mexicans/Central Americans and Hispanics & Other Minorities have a significant effect in ethnic model, but only Mexicans/Central Americans effect persists in full model

On-Time Graduation Rates Mexicans/Central Americans, Hispanics & Other

Minorities, and Puerto Ricans/Dominicans have a significant effect in model B, but only Mexicans/Central Americans effect persists in full model

Control Variables

Other significant effects in full model Male Two-parent Household Parents’ Education Attended Private (Non-Religious High School) (only

GPA & On-Time Graduation) School Segregation (only GPA & Overall Graduation) High School GPA # AP Courses Self-Rated Academic Preparation (only GPA & On-

Time Graduation) Susceptibility to Peer Influence (only GPA) Self-Esteem (only GPA)

Conclusions Is the term Hispanic/Latino doublethink? Do we

use it even though we know it doesn’t mean something clear, or that it means something contradictory? I think Hispanic/Latino may be a meaningful

personal/social identity, but the term may not tell us much about differences in educational achievement compared to whites or blacks.

Conclusions Contexts, culture and social interactions

matter to educational achievement. Subtractive schooling and varying modes of

caring (Valenzuela) We need more qualitative research on the

social integration of diverse Latinos on college campuses and how that affects grades and graduation.How do Latino students interact with other

students (Latino and non-Latino), faculty and administrators?

Documents

Latino Diversity in the Top Tier of American Higher Education