| Sarah Ovink
University of California, Davis
Differential postsecondary pathways: Examining the college enrollment gender gap across racial/ethnic groups
Increasingly, males of all ethnic/racial groups are less likely than similar females to attend college, to complete a four-year degree, and to enroll in college directly after high school (Buchmann & DiPrete 2006). However, the gender gap is not the same across all ethnic/racial groups, suggesting that differing causal factors may be at work (DiPrete & Buchmann 2006). Using ELS:2002, this dissertation explores variation by gender and race/ethnicity in college-going behavior among 2004 high school graduates. While furthering research on all groups, this dissertation contributes a special focus on the experiences of Mexican American respondents, using a multi-method approach. In the first phase of this project, I interviewed 50 Mexican-American students at three time-points as they progressed through their senior year and transitioned to their postsecondary educational and labor force careers. I use these qualitative findings to inform the development of a comprehensive model of the transition to college among Mexican Americans, which in turn, informs my overall analysis using ELS. Extending from Breen and Goldthorpe's (1997) relative risk aversion thesis, I hypothesize that all students aspire to higher education as a means of attaining upward mobility. However, I argue that the amount and type of resources available to students, as well as the constraints they face, vary by gender and ethnic/racial group, via cultural influences that affect students' and families' interpretation of risk and reward in the educational decision-making process. These variations result in gender differences in postsecondary outcomes by racial/ethnic group.
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