The Differential Attainment Rate among Latina Students: A Comparative Analysis of Recent Trends in Educational Achievements across Gender between 2005 and 2020

Abstract

Grounded on educational achievement data between 2005 and 2020 from the Digest of Educational Statistics, this paper makes the point that despite considerable academic achievements, Latinas continue to underperform when compared to women of other races and ethnicities while concurrently outscoring Latinos. When differential attainment rates are disaggregated among co-ethnics Latinas, there is enough evidence to suggest that national development and quality of life, particularly the rate of women’s participation in secondary schooling, condition the association between ethnicity, gender, and educational achievement. Besides contributing to the literature and methodology of transition rates, the research supports the advocacy for more inclusive and equitable educational attainment announced in Sustainable Development Goal 4 and it suggests that more attention should be paid to how transnationalism affects education.