Browsing by Author "Bratter, Jenifer"
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Item Cumulative Inequality and Race/Ethnic Disparities in Low Birthweight: Differences by Early Life SES(2015-04-15) Freeman Cenegy, Laura; Kimbro, Rachel T; Gorman, Bridget K; Bratter, JeniferThe current study applies Cumulative Inequality theory to investigate whether differences in black, white, and Hispanics mothers’ early life socioeconomic status (SES) account for disparities in infants’ risk of low birthweight (LBW). This study uses three-generation linked data that come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (1979-1995) and the NLSY Young Adult sample (1994-2010) and contain information on the mothers and grandmothers of 2,332 singleton infants. Controlling for mothers’ health and adult SES, I assess the unique association between childhood low SES, in terms of both cumulative economic hardship (i.e., household poverty status from ages 0 to 14) and social status (i.e., grandmothers’ education and marital status), and LBW probability. I also examine differences in LBW probability between black, white, and Hispanic women from similar childhood socioeconomic backgrounds. Overall, results indicate that childhood socioeconomic factors do not account for race/ethnic disparities in LBW. Rather, childhood low SES increases the probability of LBW for whites but is not significantly predictive of LBW for blacks or Hispanics. In fact, pairwise comparisons indicate the greatest LBW disparities exist between black and white women who experienced the least socioeconomic disadvantage during early life.Item Embargo From South Asia to the Southern US: Exploring South Asian Identities, Lived Experiences, and Collective Action in Texas(2023-04-21) Mehta, Sharan Kaur; Bratter, JeniferThe recent rise in bias-motivated violence against Asians in the US has not only captured significant public attention, but also reignited critical questions about who “counts” as Asian and what, in turn, constitutes anti-Asian racism. This dissertation centers South Asians in the US—a demographic classified as Asian within the current racial rubric, but one that has long held an ambiguous status within the Asian category. This ambiguity is far from new but brightened after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, with growing scholarship illuminating the critical role of religion in how South Asian Muslims, Sikhs, and other religious communities are racialized—and the divergent racialization processes within the Asian category. This divergence has further brightened during the COVID-19 pandemic, inspiring questions about the contemporary boundaries within the Asian category and the challenges these boundaries pose on building pan-Asian and interracial solidarities. Drawing on theories of racial formation and intersectionality, I conducted 65 in-depth interviews with South Asian community members and organizers in Texas between 2020 and 2021 to examine how religiously diverse South Asians (with a focus on Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus) across generations understand their racial identities, perceive the lived impacts of racism on their everyday lives, and respond to these challenges civically, politically, and in their local communities through collective action. Findings reveal some of the complexities of negotiating Asian and South Asian identities given the prevalence with which these terms are socially coded as “East Asian” and “Indian,” respectively—situating these racial and panethnic identities as sites of felt exclusion for some and ongoing contestation for others. The immense heterogeneity of lived experiences in the US and globally also renders diverse conditions under which community members embrace or distance themselves from panethnic terms, spaces, and action efforts. Together, findings amplify the need to bridge our sociological understanding of Asian racialization and the racialization of religion, and to think globally about racial schemas, identities, and politics in order to discern how South Asians negotiate their racial place in the US and understand the socio-political issues around which they mobilize.Item Getting by with a Little Help from (Family and) Friends?: The Link between Family Support and Residential Attainment(2019-04-18) Whitehead, Ellen M.; Bratter, JeniferIn the context of increasing wealth inequality and work insecurity, the burdens of economic instability have been overwhelmingly offloaded onto American families. This instability and exposure to disadvantage represents a salient sphere of racial inequality, with these disparities often manifesting in access to housing and high-resourced neighborhoods. Simultaneously facing reductions to the public safety net, individuals have increasingly turned to their own private networks for help in times of need. Housing support, in the form of coresidence with a relative or friend, represents a key feature of this “private safety net.” While kin support is often conceptualized as a means to ameliorate resource gaps in the short-term, this study investigates whether support from family can have lasting effects, facilitating improved socioeconomic attainment in the realm of housing and neighborhood outcomes. In this dissertation, I draw on data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine the residential outcomes of individuals after an exit from coresidence. Results from the first chapter reveal that transitioning into an independent housing status (i.e. owning or renting) is a pathway disproportionately available to former coresiders who are white, with black and Latinx individuals more likely to transition to and from public and private sources of housing support. In the second chapter, I find that while coresiding with family members predicts higher neighborhood attainment, relative to non-coresiders and once accounting for socioeconomic and demographic controls, this does not persist after moving out of the family member’s home. Finally, I find that former coresiders are more likely than non-coresiders to live near family members, with close proximity tied to receiving forms of instrumental support; this suggests access to familial support may shape residential outcomes even after an exit from coresidence. While coresidence can operate as a form of social support across racial groups, relying on private support networks does not disrupt racial inequalities in housing and neighborhood outcomes. While some individuals may exhibit social mobility as they transition away from coresidence, others, mostly Black and Latinx adults, demonstrate a continued reliance on support and lower levels of locational attainment.Item Houston Region Grows More Ethnically Diverse, With Small Declines in Segregation. A Joint Report Analyzing Census Data from 1990, 2000, and 2010(Kinder Institute for Urban Research, 2012) Emerson, Michael O.; Bratter, Jenifer; Howell, Junia; Jeanty, WilnerHouston’s population grew substantially between 1990 and 2010. Between 2000 and 2010, the Houston metropolitan area added more people (over 1.2 million) than any other metropolitan area in the United States. That growth has brought important changes to the region. This report focuses on two such changes—the changes in racial/ethnic diversity and in residential segregation between the four major racial/ethnic groups.Item How do High-Status Parents Choose Schools? Evidence from a Choice District(2015-01-30) Bancroft, Amanda; Lopez Turley, Ruth; Bratter, Jenifer; Chavez, SergioOne premise of contemporary school choice is that parents largely use academic quality indicators – loosely referred to as “accountability data” – to choose schools. This premise does not sufficiently account for the role of other mechanisms in parents’ decision-making that have been emphasized by other scholars, such as racial prejudice or network information. This project aims to highlight the mechanisms which are most important in the school choice narratives of high-status parents in a large, southern city. This population was sampled because of their above-average economic capital and social privilege and their capacity to access and use accountability data, which increase their ability to navigate school and residential markets. Participant data from in-depth, qualitative interviews highlight alternatives to the assumption that parents primarily or exclusively use accountability data to choose where to send their children to school. Specifically, parents’ color-blind “cultural logics,” which include collective ideals, constructs, and stereotypes about race, emerge as key elements in parents’ school choices and how they later explain those choices. A discussion of the data will suggest that these collective mechanisms are meaningful for parent choice, and may have unintended consequences for school choice programs within racially diverse and segregated districts.Item Interracial Friendships in the US: A Better Understanding of Presence and Variation(2015-01-23) Essenburg, Laura; Emerson, Michael; Bratter, Jenifer; Kimbro, RachelObjective. Previous studies have examined interracial friendships, typically within educational settings, in relation to racial prejudice without taking in to account the formation of interracial friendship. I address the void in the literature regarding the presence and formation of adult interracial friendship formation using four racial hierarchy theories: bi-racial divide (White/non-White and Black/non-Black), the tri-racial divide, and the melting pot. Hypotheses regarding friendship selection and formation are derived from the four racial theories. Methods. Using the Portraits of American Life Study from 2006 (n=2610) and 2012 (n=1314), I conduct multivariate analyses to test my hypotheses. Results. Adult interracial friendships are quite rare and those that do form rarely survived during the six years period between surveys. For the brief time that adult interracial friendships are established, they often develop within the tri-racial structure. Whites are the least likely to engage in interracial friendship, while racial minorities are more likely to engage in interracial friendships with Whites. Additionally, those of medium skin tone have higher proportions of interracial friendships than those of lighter or darker skin complexion. Finally, except for blacks, respondents in tracts with higher levels of racial homogeneity are less likely to name a friend of a different race. Conclusions. The decreasing and unstable nature of interracial friendship composition is problematic because it inhibits bridging capital, that is, the ability for racial equality to occur through the passing of social capital between racial groups.Item Learning More than Language: An Examination of Student Achievement in English Immersion and Bilingual Programs(2015-04-23) Alvear, Sandra Anna; Turley, Ruth N.L.; Bratter, Jenifer; Chavez, SergioQuantitative education research has yet to assemble a cohesive perspective on the impact of bilingual programs on Spanish-speaking students’ achievement. The current study offers a nearly unprecedented methodological advancement in bilingual education research through a comprehensive, comparative analysis of reading achievement across four major language acquisition programs in U.S. schools—transitional, one-way developmental, two-way bilingual immersion, and English immersion. Furthermore, the study contextualizes these programs and their outcomes within segmented assimilation theory, theoretically linking each program to a specific form of acculturation. Using a longitudinal dataset from a large urban school district in Texas, I employed multilevel models to examine reading outcomes in elementary school. Results indicate that transitional and two-way students have comparable reading outcomes in Spanish and English. Across grade levels, one-way students demonstrate lower Spanish reading growth than transitional students. The English reading analysis shows that program exposure beyond four years is linked to significantly lower reading performance across all students, and among English immersion students in particular. These results indicate that transitional programs—although associated with consonant acculturation’s limited bilingual foundation—lead to similar, and in some cases higher, reading outcomes compared to fully additive bilingual programs such as one-way or two-way.Item Mi casa es tu casa: Investigating Cohabitation and Inflation Rates in Gran Buenos Aires(Rice University, 2024) Frizzell, Brendan; Bratter, JeniferOver the past few decades, cohabitation in Latin America has increased. The rise of cohabitation, defined as a non-married couple living together in one household, has been attributed to cultural shifts in openness to alternative methods of family formation, economic hardships, and the belief that cohabitation can serve as a logical precursor to marriage. Studies on cohabitation have not conclusively attributed a single cause to this trend; however, I theorize that the rise of cohabitation in Latin America occurs primarily because of economic conditions. Given the rapid inflation and increasing cost of living in Gran Buenos Aires (GBA), I investigate cohabitation in relation to the current socioeconomic context. Using individual and household datasets collected by el Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos (INDEC) on a quarterly and monthly basis from 2017-2023, I employ a quantitative approach to evaluate how rising inflation in Argentina affects residents of GBA. From 2017-2023, the quarterly inflation rate maintained similar trends as the quarterly cohabitation rate. Binomial logistic regression finds that inflation was not a significant predictor of cohabitation; however, when evaluating households with only two residents, there was a 1.1% increased likelihood they were cohabiting. In two-person households, across all five age groups, there was a significantly positive relationship, indicating as inflation rose so did the prevalence of cohabitation amongst two-person households across age. Future research should continue to investigate cohabitation in relation to economics, as it informs how and when families form and the way economic hardship affects families. More should be done to include qualitative methodologies and additional measures alongside inflation indicating economic stability to create a more comprehensive measure of economic circumstances influencing family formation and cost-sharing.Item Misclassified and Mistreated?: Racial Misclassification, Racial Discrimination and the Role of Context(2017-11-30) Farrell, Allan P; Bratter, JeniferRace is a dynamic experience as individuals may be perceived as a race they do not identify with. This raises questions about reports of racial discrimination as they often depend on racial identification. Drawing on data from the 2006-2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, this study examines the relationship between racial misclassification, when one identifies with a race they are not seen as, and discrimination across different racial groups both at work and when seeking healthcare. The results suggest that the misclassification is associated with the likelihood of perceiving racial discrimination, but this varies by racial group and setting. In the workplace, misclassification increases the odds of discrimination for Whites, but decreases these odds for Blacks and Latino/as. However, in healthcare, racial misclassification increases the likelihood of experiencing discrimination for Latino/as. This study provides evidence discrimination may be more sensitive to the ways someone is “seen” as opposed to identified.Item Reflections on Juneteenth: Session One(Rice University, 2020-06-19) DesRoches, Reginald; Byrd, Alexander; Bratter, JeniferItem Residence, Race, and Shared Resources: Does Kin Support Matter for Neighborhood Attainment?(2015-08-27) Whitehead, Ellen; Bratter, Jenifer; Kimbro, Rachel; Murdock, SteveVast racial disparities exist in terms of neighborhood quality, and a substantial body of literature on this topic has focused on the role of individuals’ race and socioeconomic status in structuring these outcomes. The link between family-level characteristics and neighborhood attainment has received less attention. Kin support, in the form of residential, financial, or childcare assistance, is one mechanism through which extended family networks can transfer resources and potentially lessen exposure to impoverished neighborhoods. While kin support can be a source of needed resources and can limit exposure to individual-level poverty, I examine whether this support also reduces exposure to neighborhood-level disadvantage. In addition, I explore whether this support mitigates or exacerbates the racial disparities in neighborhood poverty, as a result of who receives support and the characteristics of the resources. Using individual-level data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N=3,916), merged with census-level data on neighborhood characteristics, I find that kin support does matter to neighborhood outcomes for new mothers. However, the strength and significance of this relationship depends on the type and arrangement of the support. Mothers who receive residential support by residing in a family member's home, relative to those who receive no support, have significantly lower odds of living in concentrated poverty. Both childcare and financial support, however, do not significantly predict mothers’ residential attainment after accounting for socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. In addition, accounting for kin support does not greatly influence the extent of the racial disparities in neighborhood quality. This project demonstrates that family networks and support play a role in structuring neighborhood outcomes, but that kin support does not help amend the racial inequalities in neighborhood context.Item Returning to Work, Breastfeeding, and Family Structure: A Portrait of Working Mothers in the U.S.(2015-01-08) Brewer, Mackenzie; Kimbro, Rachel T; Bratter, Jenifer; Augustine, JenniferUsing data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (Birth Cohort 2001), this study investigates how the amount of time off from work after childbirth is associated with breastfeeding behavior, and how this association differs by maternal relationship status. Specifically, I observe how a delayed return to work after childbirth is associated with breastfeeding among a nationally representative sample of single, cohabiting and married working mothers. Using logistic regression and predicted probabilities, I find that returning to work after 12 weeks is associated with higher odds of breastfeeding beyond 3 months for married mothers. The amount of leave from work is not significantly associated with the breastfeeding behaviors of single or cohabiting mothers. These findings raise serious concerns about the design of current maternal leave policies, barriers in the workplace that discourage breastfeeding, and the ability of unmarried women to utilize benefits from a delayed to return to work after childbirth.Item The Black Middle-class Marriage Paradox: At the Intersection of Race, Upward Mobility, and Gender(2021-04-30) Allen, Marbella "Eboni"; Bratter, JeniferMarriage is one of the most widely participated in and deeply gendered institutions in the world. Over time, American marriage has also become increasingly classed—selecting on those who are socioeconomically stable and college educated—and racialized—with Black Americans being the least likely group to ever marry. Racial disparities in marriage entry also persist across class status to pattern the marriage formation experiences of the Black middle-class. Different from other race/ethnic groups, Black Americans have experienced intergenerational upward mobility alongside declines in marriage entry. Despite their attractiveness on the marriage market, members of the Black middle-class are more likely than any other middle-class group to be single and living alone. This evidences a notable racial paradox in experiences of upward mobility, which has thus far been gravely undertheorized. To address this gap in sociological understanding, my dissertation utilized narrative data to examine how members of the Black middle-class construct marriage-related ideologies, ideals, and expectations. To this end, I conducted interviews with 92 never-married Black college-educated men (n=42) and women (n=50). The findings that emerged from the data are organized in three chapters. In each chapter, I describe different aspects of how race, gender, and class—specifically processes related to upward mobility—intersect to frame the paradoxical marriage formation experiences of the Black middle-class. Overall, analysis revealed gender ideologies and expectations as integral factors shaping how marriage formation processes unfold among Black middle-class young adults. Black middle-class ideologies of masculinity and femininity also relate to one another in ways that impact how they engage dating, partnering, and marriage, if at all. Given that respondents encounter gender-related challenges when attempting to date and form relationships, future research should focus less on marriage as an outcome and more on marriage formation as a social and gendered process. I conclude by arguing that for Black middle-class Americans, marriage-related cultural ideologies are constructed both similarly and differently across gender lines in ways that potentially frustrate marriage entry long before marriage is being considered.Item Embargo The Role of Racial Composition and Context in Racial Identity Among Black Adolescents(2022-08-11) Carroll, Michael Alden; Bratter, JeniferHow does racial composition matter to racial identity? As racial diversity in the United States increases and racism persists, racial identity remains significant for the well-being of Black adolescents. Exposure to same-race peers and populations remains a significant feature of spaces that support Black identities, however, the role of concentration of Black populations on the Black adolescents’ affinity with their race has rarely been assessed. It is important to consider how Black adolescents’ racial identities are shaped by the racial composition of various contexts they experience. This paper takes a multi-level approach with a focus on racial demographics at the city and classroom levels to explore their role in shaping Black adolescents’ racial identities. This work explores two dimensions of racial identity– racial identity centrality and private regard. Data used for this study (n=1,050) comes from the National Survey of American Life-Adolescent Supplements (NSAL-A) and Summary Files of the 2000 US Census (U.S. Census Bureau 2001). Ordinary least squares models were estimated to determine the association between exposure to same-race peers and Black adolescents’ levels of racial identity centrality and private regard. Findings reveal that the effect of racial concentration on identity differs depending on the dimension of identity being assessed. Living in metropolitan areas with larger Black populations coincides with identifying more strongly with one’s race (centrality), however, exposure to same-race peers in the classroom did not significantly affect racial centrality. Differently, evaluations of one’s racial group (private regard) are positively associated with exposure to same-race peers at the classroom level, but racial concentration at the city level had no statistical effect on private regard. The findings reinforce the notion that Black spaces nurture Black identities. However, the associations depend on the dimension of racial identity and the level at which it is assessed (macro, meso, micro).