A causal model of the educational plans and career expectations of Mexican American high school girls.

A structural model predicting the educational and career expectations of 282 Mexican American high school girls was developed and then tested on samples of 247 Mexican American boys and 228 European American girls. Predictors included socioeconomic status, acculturation, academic achievement, instrumentality, expressiveness, gender role attitudes, parental and teacher support, family and career commitment, and perceptions of barriers. Results indicated that the initial model was plausible in the sample of Mexican American girls. Findings from the multiple-groups analyses provided evidence supporting the primacy of cultural influences over gender in predicting the educational and career expectations of Mexican American girls.