Can Higher Education Ameliorate Racial/Ethnic Disadvantage? An Analysis of the Wage Assimilation of College-Educated Hispanic Americans

Sharron Xuanren Wang,Arthur Sakamoto

doi:10.1177/21582440211009197

Sharron Xuanren Wang, Arthur Sakamoto

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211009197

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Journal: SAGE Open	Publication Date: Apr 1, 2021
Citations: 2	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Texas A&M University, Delaware State University

Abstract

Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States, but quantitative research on the various components of this population has not received extensive investigation. College-educated Hispanics have been particularly neglected due to exaggerated and negative stereotypes. This present study uses data from the 2010 National Survey of College Graduates to investigate wage attainments among college-educated Hispanics. Hispanic Americans are categorized based on their place of birth and age in which they entered the U.S. education system. Results indicate that native-born and foreign-born Hispanic women who have at least a college degree have reached approximate wage parity with comparable native-born non-Hispanic White women. By contrast, native-born Hispanic men face a 10% wage penalty relative to comparable native-born non-Hispanic White men. In addition, foreign-born Hispanic men who immigrated as adults and obtained their college degree outside of the United States face larger wage penalties that are augmented by a lack of citizenship. Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.

Highlights

Hispanics constitute the largest minority group in the United States, representing about 18% of the total population
One major concern is that Hispanic Americans have lowerthan-average socioeconomic attainment, which is related to their assimilation level (Smith, 2003)
Extensive prior sociological research has emphasized that racial discrimination and immigrant disadvantage are important factors contri buting to the lower socioeconomic status of Hispanics in the United States (Farley, 1987; Kenney & Wissoker, 1994; Mroczkowski & Sánchez, 2015; Reimers, 1983)

Summary

Introduction

Hispanics constitute the largest minority group in the United States, representing about 18% of the total population. Where Yit refers to the log hourly wage of the ith individual who belongs to the tth demographic group with t = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, indicating native-born non-Hispanic Whites, HIS-1.0, HIS-1.25, HIS-1.5, and HIS-NB, respectively. After controlling for pre-labor market characteristics in Model 1, the estimate remains significant but is notably reduced implying that HIS-NB have an average wage that is about 10% (i.e., e–.1004 – 1) lower net of demographics, education, and region.

Results

Conclusion