The transmission of economic status and inequality: U.S.-Mexico in comparative perspective

Rene Zenteno, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte

Millions of Mexicans face inadequate educational and employment opportunities in Mexico and the U.S. Little scholarly research has addressed the issues of social background, institutions, and economic status in Mexico, as well as the improvements or setbacks of Mexican immigrants that move to a different system of social stratification. In this paper, the intergenerational transmission of economic status was analyzed in terms of the quality of learning outcomes in science of 15-year-olds. Based on a classic model of student assessments, results showed that parental socioeconomic status has stronger effects on youth’s cognitive skills in the U.S. than in Mexico. Surprisingly, Mexican educational institutions seem to provide students of diverse social background with similar opportunities for poor learning. Results also revealed not only the well-known academic disadvantages of immigrant-origin youth who speak Spanish at home in the U.S., but for the first time also documented their similarities with comparable students in Mexico.