Breaking down the STEM pathway: Utilizing neighborhood resources to improve Mexican-origin adolescents' life chances

Abstract

This paper aims to identify neighborhood institutional resources (e.g., nonprofit organizations, libraries, and labor market conditions) that promote Mexican-origin high school students' progress in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pathway into postsecondary education. A nationally representative, longitudinal sample of 1340 Mexican-origin students from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 was used to investigate students' postsecondary education STEM outcomes. Neighborhood institutional resources, assessed during the high school years, were appended from multiple administrative data sources at the zip code level. Multilevel models utilizing the Heckman correction model, to correct for selection bias in postsecondary education pursuits, revealed that neighborhood resources during high school, specifically more minority- and immigrant-serving organizations and a more STEM-focused local labor market, support Mexican-origin students' postsecondary STEM degree attainment, after controlling for risks and resources in the family and school contexts. We conclude by calling attention to how neighborhood institutional resources may facilitate Mexican-origin students' STEM achievement and fulfill the labor market demands within high-growth sectors of the economy.