SEGMENTED ASSIMILATION AMONG MEXICANS IN THE SOUTHWEST

This article examines segmented assimilation among foreign-born and U.S.-born Mexicans. Using the 2000 census, this article investigates how immigrants' length of residence in the United States and nativity affect the earnings and self-employment outcomes of low- and high-skilled Mexican men and women in the Southwest. Findings reveal that the earnings of low-skilled, foreign-born Mexicans decrease as immigrants reside in the United States longer and are generally lower among the U.S. born than the foreign born. In contrast, the earnings of high-skilled, foreign-born Mexicans increase as immigrants reside in the United States longer and are generally higher among U.S.-born Mexicans than foreign-born Mexicans. Moreover, self-employment participation decreases as immigrants reside in the United States longer and is lower among the U.S. born than the foreign born, regardless of skill. Since self-employment results in lower earnings, a decline in self-employment indicates economic progress. Furthermore, men are generally better off than women. Drawing from segmented assimilation theory, findings support the "downward assimilation" hypothesis among low-skilled Mexicans and the "Anglo-conformity" hypothesis among high-skilled Mexicans. Overall, this research provides evidence of intragroup differences in segmented assimilation among foreign-born and U.S.-born Mexicans in the Southwest.     

‘Before they kill my spirit entirely’: insights into the lived experiences of American Indian Alaska Native faculty at research universities

American Indian and Alaska Natives (AIAN) comprise about 2% of the US population and 0.5% of the faculty in higher education. While scholars have documented the experiences of underrepresented minority (URM) faculty, the perspectives of AIAN faculty at elite universities are largely absent. Although AIAN faculty share many of the same barriers to success as URM colleagues, their unique status as Tribal peoples and their relationship to settler colonialism pose particular challenges and resistance strategies. Findings from a mixed methods study of 25 AIAN faculty at research universities, employing a decolonizing, survivance-oriented framework, examines their lived institutional experiences. The data yielded five themes regarding (1) institutional climate, (2) mentorship, (3) family–work balance, (4) cultural taxation and role stress, and (5) discrimination. The authors conclude that decolonization involves the repatriation of Indigenous epistemologies and Indigenous ‘place’ in the growth of science, research, and knowledge production, creating liberatory spaces within the academy.     

Political Participation Among Latinos in the United States: The Effect of Group Identity and Consciousness*

Objective. How do group identity and consciousness affect Latinos' political participation in the United States? Recent studies that examine this relationship generally focus on a single ethnic group, for example, Mexicans, or the panethnic group, Latino/Hispanic, which limits the scope of their results. This study investigates how group identity and consciousness affect the political participation of differently identified Latinos. Methods. Using the unique 2007 Latino National Survey (LNS), a telephone survey of 8,500 Latino respondents, I investigate how group identity and consciousness affect political participation, as measured by electoral and nonelectoral activities. Results. Findings suggest that Latinos who self‐identify as American are more likely to engage in political action; however, a sense of group consciousness among ethnic, panethnic, and racial‐identified Latinos alters this effect. Conclusion. The type of and extent to which Latinos engage in political action is contingent on primary self‐identity and specific aspects of group consciousness.     

Statistical concepts of a priori and a posteriori risk classification in insurance

Everyday we face all kinds of risks, and insurance is in the business of providing us a means to transfer or share these risks, usually to eliminate or reduce the resulting financial burden, in exchange for a predetermined price or tariff. Actuaries are considered professional experts in the economic assessment of uncertain events, and equipped with many statistical tools for analytics, they help formulate a fair and reasonable tariff associated with these risks. An important part of the process of establishing fair insurance tariffs is risk classification, which involves the grouping of risks into various classes that share a homogeneous set of characteristics allowing the actuary to reasonably price discriminate. This article is a survey paper on the statistical tools for risk classification used in insurance. Because of recent availability of more complex data in the industry together with the technology to analyze these data, we additionally discuss modern techniques that have recently emerged in the statistics discipline and can be used for risk classification. While several of the illustrations discussed in the paper focus on general, or non-life, insurance, several of the principles we examine can be similarly applied to life insurance. Furthermore, we also distinguish between a priori and a posteriori ratemaking. The former is a process which forms the basis for ratemaking when a policyholder is new and insufficient information may be available. The latter process uses additional historical information about policyholder claims when this becomes available. In effect, the resulting a posteriori premium allows one to correct and adjust the previous a priori premium making the price discrimination even more fair and reasonable.     

Moving college health research forward: Reconsidering our reliance on statistical significance testing

Understanding the unique health needs of college students and establishing best practices to address them depend, heavily, on the inherent quality and contribution of the research identifying these needs. College health-focused publications currently exemplify less than ideal statistical reporting practices. Specifically, college health practitioners and researchers continue to rely heavily upon null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) as the sole standard for effectiveness, validity, and/or replicability of scientific studies, even though NHST itself was not designed for such purposes. Herein we address the following questions: (a) What is NHST? (b) What are the inherent limitations of NHST? (c) What are recommended alternatives to NHST? and (d) How can editorial policies promote adopting NHST alternatives? Using college health data from the CORE 2011 Alcohol and Drug survey, we provide a heuristic example demonstrating how effect sizes do not suffer from the same limitations as NHST.     

Honorary whiteness

‘The fantasy of the exception’ is a seductive trope. More penetrating than any explicit legal codes or political structures, the fantasy is embedded in a constellation of politics and psychology and is linked to both colonial and neocolonial logics. In her book Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire, Anne Norton presents the ‘fantasy of the exception’ as luring individuals to repress or magnify parts of their identities in exchange for increased access to political and economic privilege. This study argues that the fantasy of exception is intrinsically intertwined in constructs of ‘honorary whiteness’ as exemplified in the contemporary academy, as well as in colonial and neocolonial constructs of identity. Building on Norton's definition of this fantasy, I examine its colonial roots and contemporary manifestations in the broader neoliberal agenda. In doing so, I will show how the fantasy is exemplified by individuals' aspirations for ‘honorary white’ status, and how their drive to achieve power comes at the expense of the splitting of their selves. By examining the narratives of ‘non-white’ individuals and their struggle for power and identity in the face of colonial and neoliberal orders, the fantasy of exception is revealed as reinforcing inequality and oppression, and ultimately, sustains fabricated differences that fuel the legacy of colonial racism.     

How does transnationalism affect the perceptions of discrimination among Dominicans,Puerto Ricans and Cubans?

Transnationalism provides first- and second-generation immigrants with a dual frame of reference that shapes perceptions of their experiences in the United States (USA). For Caribbean Latino/as, who are likely targets of racial and ethnic discrimination, transnational ties can impact their interpretations of discriminatory incidents. This study explores the relationship between transnationalism and perceptions of discriminatory experiences of 1,577 Caribbean Latino/as Dominicans (n = 335), Cubans (n = 420), and Puerto Ricans (n = 822). These Latino/as were selected from the 2006 Latino National Survey. Suggested by our study findings, after having controlled for demographic and immigration variables, transnational Caribbean Latino/as are more likely to perceive discrimination than those not maintaining transnational ties. We conclude with a discussion of the research and practice implications.     

Matching to prevent adoption disruption

The number of children being freed for adoption placement is increasing due to legislation. These children are frequently the victims of chaotic environments. Their exposure to adversity makes it more difficult for them to maintain long term placements. Suggestions are made toward the utilization of standardized instruments in the matching of adoptive parents and children to prevent adoption disruption.     

Simulating from Exchangeable Archimedean Copulas

This article considers identifying the existence of the local likelihood estimator in binary regression. A simple method for the identification is proposed, which is derived by recognizing the problem as a linear complementarity problem through a support vector machine problem with soft margins.     

Second‐Generation Decline or Advantage? Latino Assimilation in the Aftermath of the Great Recession

This article addresses the debate on second‐generation advantage and decline among Latinos by providing a post‐recession snapshot based on geocoded data from the Current Population Survey (2008–2012). It reports three findings. First, second‐generation Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are at a disadvantage, whereas other Latinos have achieved parity with native majority peers. Second, second‐generation Latinos report significant progress compared to their parents and there is no evidence of a second‐generation decline. Third, there is no difference in outcomes among second‐generation Mexicans by immigrant destination type. Overall, these analyses yield an optimistic assessment of second‐generation progress, while noting potential stagnation among third‐ and higher‐generation Mexicans.