ERIC Number: EJ893079
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Sep
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0743-5584
EISSN: N/A
Early Childbearing and Educational Attainment among Mainland Puerto Rican Teens
Diez, Virginia; Mistry, Jayanthi
Journal of Adolescent Research, v25 n5 p690-715 Sep 2010
We report the results of a study about how early childbearing affected the educational trajectories of nine Puerto Rican teenage mothers living in New England. Raised largely on the mainland, participants chose to carry pregnancies to term and to participate in a parenting program for young mothers. Upon examination of shared meaning-making around childbearing, we found that, consistently, childbearing activated a family building script as the main task of motherhood. The pursuit of education as a developmental script was less consistent. We identified three approaches to reconciling the competing tasks of family building and educational attainment. "Successful jugglers" managed to do both, and even work at the same time. "Prioritizers" chose motherhood over education, either before or after childbearing. The two participants who did not follow a clear trajectory also happened to be the youngest in the study. Key factors contributing to each trajectory are presented. (Contains 4 tables, 1 figure and 5 notes.)
Descriptors: Educational Attainment, Early Parenthood, Puerto Ricans, Adolescents, Hispanic Americans, Mothers, Child Rearing, Ethnography, Validity, Participant Characteristics, Family Characteristics
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A