Mexican American Ethnicity

This article examines how factors like ethnicity and gender as well as other social constructs determine the mobility of second-generation Mexican American men and women, focusing on their education and career success in America. It explores the theoretical issues in regards to them not fitting the research statistics for Mexican Americans in New York City. As well as discussing results of gender roles of parents at home, gendered ethnicity in the labor market, and the dynamics of gendered ethnicity in school choice. Overall it emphasizes the point of the success and adaptability of the women in these Mexican American cultures from childhood into being an adult, examining how their success results from their gender and ethnicity in environments like school, work, and home. The theoretical issues section of this chapter points out how majority of immigrant research pertaining to education and mobility claims that more immigrant ethnicities help increase rates of immigrant families mobility, compared to the expectation of immigrants to assimilate has proven to hinder immigrants from perusing mainstream educations and jobs. This concept goes along with many theorist, who all shared the main focus that movement of immigrants into mainstream economy could only be facilitated using ethnicity. They studied concepts like how ethnicity effects academic achievement and school performance. The issue was that no theory specifically focused on how immigrant men and woman are different in education and work systems and how their identities are formed. Gender roles have a strong effect on how second-generation Mexican American men and women choose their identities, which also effects their goals and aspirations, their education and work, and what makes them Mexican American. …show more content…
In order to understand second-generation Mexican Americans work and educational mobility it is important to look over the roles of Mexican gender and ethnicity in three places: work, school, and the community. As far as ethnicity these immigrants are not looked at as mainstream white Americans, but they also are not looked at as Blacks are Puerto Ricans, which leaves them excluded and kept in an in-between space. For Gender, the concept of being in-between has changed through generations and gender. These women were easily able to navigate themselves in ethnic spaces and have different experiences when it comes to their interactions with mainstream society. Studies show that both second-generation Mexican American men and women are mobile in the labor market, but women, in terms of increased wages and good working …show more content…
Mexican American women have a higher chance of working professional jobs. Men are more likely to work in industrial, low paying jobs. Also, these men often start working earlier then women, who start older and tend to obtain jobs as secretaries or retail positions. Only woman used formal education to look for their jobs. Two reasons are pointed out to explain Mexican American women's success first women are more likely to go into careers that require what the book refers to as soft skills. These jobs offer better benefits and pay and have opportunities for advancement. Second definition of ethnicity is different for men and women and the careers they tend to fall into. “Mexicanness” for second-generation Mexican Americans are extremely different when pertaining to men and women. For men Mexicanness limits his success in the labor market due to lack of education and his what is considered an immigrant job. For women ethnicity or Mexicanness is not ever an issue as far as being in the labor