It’s a Family Affair: Parental Configuration, Educational Attainment, and Race

Abstract

This research explores the impact of parental configuration (mother only vs. father only households) on the educational outcomes of Black and Latinx urban youth. More broadly, this thesis interrogates the relative impact of three domains – student level, home environment, and economic capital variables – on the educational attainment of a national sample of 10 students. The data employed in this study were drawn from the Educational Longitudinal Study, which was conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). This study recognizes the intersectionality of parental structure (mother-only/father-only configurations), which serves to maintain the fundamental importance of the Black and Latinx family. It explores the effects of family composition on economic stability. It weighs the influence of cultural and social factors, as well. To utilize an intersectional approach, all analyses were conducted separately for female and male students. Major findings show that student’s gender, 10th grade test scores, and socioeconomic status are major predictors of educational attainment