Success Attained, Deterred, and Denied

Divergent Pathways to Social Mobility in Los Angeles's New Second Generation

Bibliographic Data

ID9767916
AuthorsM Zhou (0000-0003-4692-7234, University of California, Los Angeles, corresponding author), Min Zhou Min Zhou (Department of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles), Jennifer Lee (0000-0002-5383-694X, University of California, Irvine), Jody Agius Vallejo (University of Southern California and a visiting research fellow at the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies and U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego), Rosaura Tafoya-Estrada (University of California, Irvine), Yang Sao Xiong (0000-0002-0571-493X, University of California, Los Angeles), Yang Sao Xiong Yang Sao Xiong (University of California, Los Angeles)
Year2008
Volume620
Issue1
Pages37-61
Publication date2008-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7162 • E-ISSN: 1552-3349
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0002716208322586
OpenAlexW2131581658
LanguageEN
Citations received103
References cited19

This article highlights divergent pathways to mobility among members of the new second generation, identifies key mechanisms affecting the choices they make in their pursuit of success, and explains how specific choices were pivotal in determining outcomes of segmented assimilation. First, the authors evaluate definitions of success and pathways to social mobility, advancing a subject-centered approach to study second-generation mobility. Second, the article turns to the results from the authors' ongoing qualitative study of the new second generation in Los Angeles to examine cases that exemplify predictable and anomalous outcomes. Third, the authors zoom in on patterns that emerge from real-life histories to clarify key mechanisms affecting the decisions made by members of the second generation that are consequential in shaping their paths to mobility. The study dispels some enduring myths about group-based cultures, stereotypes, and processes of assimilation. It also advances theoretical debates about intergenerational mobility and immigrant incorporation

Assimilation (phonology · Immigration · Mythology · Political science · Social mobility · Social science · Sociology · Subject (documents · World Wide Web · Computer Science · History · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies