Abstract

In this dissertation, I analyzed the outcomes of bilingualism for the growing Latinx community living in the United States. Outcomes were quantitatively analyzed from four different perspectives: educational outcomes, job market participation, income, and social capital engagement. Chapters 1 and 2 cover previous studies about bilingualism, the importance of including outcomes that are not purely related to income, and general characteristics of the Latinx community. To perform the analyses, I used the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002/2012 (ELS:2002) dataset, a nationally representative dataset administered by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) of the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. To determine the population sample, I used coarsened exact matching between the selected sample and the control group. This statistical technique allows for the matching of individuals a priori on an array of characteristics that make analyses stronger and increase internal validity. After the matching, I conducted a series of ordinary least squares regressions, including fixed effects of location using zip codes to account for the location of the individuals. In general, results were significantly positive for bilingual Latinx compared to non-bilingual Latinx in the United States. Thus, it appears that bilingualism is an advantage for Latinx individuals in variables of education, job market participation, and income. However, results were not as precise for social capital engagement activities. Finally, I present a discussion of the results and direction of future studies.

Degree Date

Fall 2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Teaching and Learning

Advisor

Doris Baker

Second Advisor

Meredith Richards

Third Advisor

Denisa Gándara

Fourth Advisor

Francesca Lopez

Subject Area

Education, Economics, Humanities

Number of Pages

73

Format

.pdf

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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