TY - JOUR
T1 - The significance of race and gender in school success among Latinas and Latinos in college
AU - Barajas, Heidi Lasley
AU - Pierce, Jennifer L.
PY - 2001/12
Y1 - 2001/12
N2 - This article considers how race and gender shape Latina and Latino paths to school success in college. A purposive sample of successful high school and college students was selected. Through interviews, fieldwork, and school records, the researchers find that Latinas navigate successfully through negative stereotypes by maintaining positive definitions of themselves and by emphasizing their group membership as Latina. Young Latino men also see themselves as part of a larger cultural group but tend to have less positive racial and ethnic identities than women do. Typically, they are supported by mentors, such as white athletic coaches, and tend to draw from the meritocratic ethos of sports, regarding their success in individualistic terms. While successful Latinas do not assimilate in the ways predicted by the literature, the young men in this study accept the individualistic and meritocratic ethos of the dominant culture, but with a psychological price.
AB - This article considers how race and gender shape Latina and Latino paths to school success in college. A purposive sample of successful high school and college students was selected. Through interviews, fieldwork, and school records, the researchers find that Latinas navigate successfully through negative stereotypes by maintaining positive definitions of themselves and by emphasizing their group membership as Latina. Young Latino men also see themselves as part of a larger cultural group but tend to have less positive racial and ethnic identities than women do. Typically, they are supported by mentors, such as white athletic coaches, and tend to draw from the meritocratic ethos of sports, regarding their success in individualistic terms. While successful Latinas do not assimilate in the ways predicted by the literature, the young men in this study accept the individualistic and meritocratic ethos of the dominant culture, but with a psychological price.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0035539823&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/089124301015006005
DO - 10.1177/089124301015006005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0035539823
SN - 0891-2432
VL - 15
SP - 859
EP - 878
JO - Gender and Society
JF - Gender and Society
IS - 6
ER -