Extracurricular Participation, Educational Expectations and College Enrollment Among Second-Generation Latino Youth

Abstract

With the rapid growth in the Latino population in the United States, in the next few decades we will be presented with a new generation of potential college bound students. It is critical to comprehend how the educational system impacts Latino youth, and discover new ways that encourage underprivileged youth to successfully finish high school and acquire a post-secondary education. Social capital, particularly extracurricular activities, plays an important role in encouraging and helping Latino youth attain an education beyond high school. This study will specifically examine how participation in extracurricular activities affects second-generation Latino youths’ educational expectations and post-secondary enrollment status, all while controlling for student’s sex, family socioeconomic background, and high school grade point average. Utilizing data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, our results show that extracurricular participation is positively and significantly associated with educational expectations during high school as well as application and enrollment in post-secondary education among second-generation Latino youth.Ope