PHENOTYPE AND SCHOOLING AMONG MEXICAN-AMERICANS

The study presented here examined the effect of phenotype (both skin c olor and physical features) on schooling attainment among Mexican Amer icans with data from the 1979 National Chicano Survey. It found that t he lightest skin-toned and most European-looking quarter of the Mexica n American population had about 1.5 more years of schooling than the d arker and more Indian-looking schooling by phenotype persisted with an d without controls for other factors that have also been found to affe ct schooling. Phenotype was especially important among cohorts educate d before World War II, although it continued to be important among lat er cohorts. Also, it had strong effects on schooling in Texas but virt ually no effects in California and strong effects for those raised in Spanish-speaking neighbourhoods but insignificant effects for those ra ised in English-speaking neighbourhoods.