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Beyond the Latino Essentialist Experience: Racial and Ethnic Self-Identifications, Gender, and College Attainment

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Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences

Published online on

Abstract

This study assesses the relationships across racial and ethnic self-identifications, gender, and college attainment within the Latino group. With the use of data from the basic Current Population Survey (2010-2012), the results indicate that college attainment varies within the Latino sample by racial and ethnic self-identifications even after controlling for cultural, socioeconomic, and demographic factors. Specifically, the results of the logistic analysis indicate that Latinos who self-identify as Asian Hawaiian have higher odds of having a college degree than those who self-identify as White. Interestingly, Latinos who self-classify as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Central American are less likely than Cubans to attain a college degree even after controlling for an array of cultural, socioeconomic, and demographic factors. Contrary to our hypothesis, the effect of gender is not found to be significant. Ultimately, the results provide evidence to the limitations of aggregating the Latino population to understand their college attainment.