Sex, Ethnicity and Chicano Status Attainment

Abstract

Using data from the 1979 Chicano Survey, this study analyzes the determinants of status attainment among the U.S. population of Mexican descent. The process of status attainment is essentially the same for Chicano men and women, although women experience a net handicap for current occupation attainment. Close ethnic attachment, measured by language and association, does not lower socioeconomic attainment; in fact, Spanish competency has a positive effect upon the status of first job. The importance of a structural understanding of ethnicity, rather than a cultural interpretation, is stressed for future research on Chicano stratification.