Abstract

This dissertation contributes to the research on educational inequality and immigrant incorporation by examining the social processes that shape Latino parents' involvement in their children's education. Parental school involvement is a form of civic engagement with many potential implications for children's educational outcomes and school programs. The existing literature on the topic largely focuses on the challenges Latino parents face because of their ethnic/racial or immigrant background. My study, in contrast, demonstrates the importance of class-related factors in driving general patterns of Latino parents' school participation, while accounting for differences based on race/ethnicity and immigrant background as well.

The dissertation includes three substantive chapters, each of which addresses different aspects of school involvement among Latinos. Chapter 2 analyzes the 2001 Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey to identify trends in Latina mothers' school participation. It demonstrates that, after accounting for differences in socio-economic status and other background characteristics, Latina mothers participate more in their children's schools than White mothers. It also shows that Latina mothers who work full-time participate less in their children's schools than those who do not work for pay. Immigrant Latinas who have lived in the U.S. over a decade are as involved in their children's schools as U.S.-born Latinas. Among immigrants, there are no significant differences in school involvement based on national origin or legal documentation status.

Chapter 3 shifts the focus to Latino fathers' school involvement, analyzing the 2003 National Household Education Survey. This chapter reveals similar patterns of school participation among White and Latino fathers, and among immigrant and non-immigrant Latinos. Key determinants of Latino fathers' school participation include socio-economic background and mothers' and fathers' employment statuses. To complement findings based on survey data, this chapter uses qualitative data from Latino immigrant parents to illustrate how couples' work schedules influence fathers' share of school involvement.

Chapter 4 examines the association between labor union and school participation, focusing on the experiences of Latino immigrant parents who belong to a Los Angeles janitors' labor union. Using original survey and interview data, this chapter suggests that parents' participation in their labor union facilitates their engagement in school decision-making processes and in school improvement efforts. The experience of solving worker grievances, negotiation contracts, and mobilizing for protests, moreover, develops parents' capacity to exercise leadership within the context of their children's schools.