Against the odds: An exploratory study of Mexican immigrant women with technical education

Recent social science research has created a largely negative profile of Mexican immigrants in the United States. Although most Mexican women arrive in the United States with less than a high school education, researchers have overlooked a minority group within the immigrant population that has more education. This article is an exploratory study of the experiences of Mexican immigrant women holding a vocational certificate from technical education institutions in Mexico. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews of eight informants living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern Idaho. Interview results show that vocational education does not ensure success as measured by common social science indicators. This study concludes that the informants are highly successful women when measured by their personal standards.