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The Benefits of Biculturalism: Exposure to Immigrant Culture and Dropping out of School among Asian and Latino Youths
Author(s) -
Feliciano Cynthia
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
social science quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.482
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1540-6237
pISSN - 0038-4941
DOI - 10.1111/0038-4941.00064
Subject(s) - vietnamese , immigration , mainstream , biculturalism , acculturation , ethnic group , affect (linguistics) , drop out , sociology , educational attainment , psychology , gender studies , demographic economics , neuroscience of multilingualism , geography , political science , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , communication , neuroscience , anthropology , economics , law
Objective . This study examines how retaining an immigrant culture affects school dropout rates among Vietnamese, Koreans, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. Methods . I use 1990 Census data to analyze how language use, household language, and presence of immigrants in the household affect dropping out of school. Results . Overall, I found that these measures have similar effects on these diverse groups: bilingual students are less likely to drop out than English‐only speakers, students in bilingual households are less likely to drop out than those in English‐dominant or English‐limited households, and students in immigrant households are less likely to drop out than those in nonimmigrant households. Conclusions . These findings suggest that those who enjoy the greatest educational success are not those who have abandoned their ethnic cultures and are most acculturated. Rather, bicultural youths who can draw resources from both the immigrant community and mainstream society are best situated to enjoy educational success.