Political Engagement Among Second-Generation Latinos in the United States (2024)

Undergraduates: Fiorela Villegas, N/A

Faculty Advisor: Christopher Clark
Department: Political Science

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This research aims to provide an intersectional approach to understanding political engagement among Second-Generation Latinos in the United States, a growing and rising electorate. Utilizing the Latino Second Generation(2012-2013) survey from the Inter-University Consortium for Political Research, I’ll evaluate the research question: how does political socialization impact Second-generation Latino students’ level of political engagement? Through a qualitative analysis, simple logistic regressions and chi-square tests will be used to evaluate the political engagement among second-generation Latinos. Consistent with the literature, second-generation Latinos in this sample demonstrate low levels of political engagement regardless of accounting for various control variables such as education, income, and gender. In summary, while the findings were highly lackluster, I found no results demonstrating a strong correlation among the chosen variables. Future research must work to explore the multiple identities of Latinos, including assessing parents’ level of political socialization, the importance of accessing second-generation Latinos, and how higher institutions impact first-generation Latino college students. _x000D_
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Keywords: Second-Generation Latinos, College, Political Engagement, Political Socialization, Latinos.