In an era of heightened educational expectations, it can be difficult to discern why would-be first-generation college-going adolescents are less likely to enroll in college than non-first generation adolescents. This article draws from cultural sociology to interpret differences in the way that adolescents socially construct the transition into…

We examined differences in and relationship of psychological (collective self-esteem), social (cohesion and university belonging), and cultural (cultural congruity) dimensions of university mattering for 141 Latin@ undergraduates. Collectively the dimensions accounted for 50% of the variance, with the psychological dimension having the largest…

This article explores Hispanics' concepts of cultural and linguistic identity. It is based on the findings of a recent study conducted by the author in Iglesia hispana de Cristo, a Hispanic church community in Western New York. Data come from ethnographic interviews conducted with 48 participants aged 13 to 80 years and with church leaders and…