Educational Progress and Parenting Among Mexican Immigrant Mothers of Young Children

This study examined the potential for educational investments in Mexican immigrant mothers to enhance their management of their children's pathways through the educational system in the United States, which often disadvantages them. We tested this hypothesis with data on 816 Mexican immigrant women and their children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K). The results suggest that mothers who pursued their own schooling over a 4-year period, regardless of whether they obtained a degree, increased their engagement with their children's schools during that same period. The results appear to be robust to a wide range of factors that select women into continuing education.