Liberal Gender Role Attitudes and Academic Achievement among Mexican-Origin Adolescents in Two Houston Inner-City Catholic Schools

Abstract

This study examines the relation of liberal attitudes toward women to academic achievement among 97 seventh-and eighth-grade Mexican-origin adolescents attending two Houston inner-city Catholic schools. These liberal attitudes refer to views regarding the rights and roles of women in society. Results show that liberal attitudes toward women are significantly related to Mexican-originfemales'academic achievement, as measured by their grades in mathematics and language arts. This association suggests thatfemales modify their achievement as a result of theirperceptions of compatibility between liberal attitudes and academic success or socioeconomic mobility. Moreover, to the degree that such attitudes reflect the social and cultural resources of educational institutions, they may correspond implicitly to cultural capital.