Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Union Formation Implications of Race and Gender Gaps in Educational Attainment: The Case of Latin America

  • Published:
Population Research and Policy Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We use census microdata to assess the levels of educational homogamy in six Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico. This paper contributes to the literature on homogamy in three ways. First, by conducting a comparative analysis between countries belonging to the still little-studied region of Latin America, which is still undergoing intense and varied processes of demographic, economic, social, and political modernization. Second, by simultaneously including variables of structural and individual nature. Finally, by making progress with respect to the interactions between educational homogamy and other important variables associated with high levels of social inequality in the region: race, ethnicity and birthplace.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Measured in terms of some socially significant variable of hierarchical nature, as for example: education, occupation, income, etc.

References

  • Ariza, M., & De Oliveira, O. (2001). Familias en Transición y Marcos Conceptuales en Redefinición. Papeles de Población, 28, 9–39.

  • Arriagada, I. (2002). Cambios y Desigualdad en las Familias Latinoamericanas. Revista de la CEPAL, 77, 143–161.

  • Beck, U., & Beck-Gernsheim, E. (1995). The normal chaos of love. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G. S. (1987). Tratado sobre la Familia. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blau, P. M. (1994). Structural contexts of opportunities. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blau, P. M., Blum, T. C., & Schwartz, J. E. (1982). Heterogeneity and intermarriage. American Sociological Review, 47(1), 45–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blossfeld, H.-P., & Timm, A. (2003). Who marries whom?: Educational systems as marriage markets in modern societies (Vol. 12). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (2004). El Baile de los Solteros. Barcelona: Anagrama.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (2006). La Distinción: Criterio y Bases Sociales del Gusto (3rd ed.). Madrid: Taurus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bozon, M. (1991). Women and the age gap between spouses: An accepted domination? Population: An English Selection, 3, 113–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgess, E. W., & Wallin, P. (1943). Homogamy in social characteristics. The American Journal of Sociology, 49(2), 109–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cabré, A. (1993). Volverán Tórtolos y Cigüeñas. In L. Garrido & E. Gil (Eds.), Estrategias Matrimoniales (1ª ed. ed., pp. 113–131). Madrid: Alianza Universidad.

    Google Scholar 

  • Centro Latinoamericano de Demografía (CELADE). (2006). Pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes de América Latina y el Caribe: Información Sociodemográfica para Políticas y Programas. In CEPAL (Eds.), Available from http://www.eclac.cl/cgi-bin/getProd.asp?xml=/publicaciones/xml/0/25730/P25730.xml&xsl=/tpl/p9f.xsl&base=/tpl/top–bottom.xsl.

  • Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPA). (2009). CEPALSTAT: Estadísticas de América Latina y el Caribe. http://websie.eclac.cl/sisgen/ConsultaIntegrada.asp.

  • Coombs, R. H. (1961). A value theory of mate selection. The Family Life Coordinator, 10(3), 51–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, K. (1941). Intermarriage in caste societies. American Anthropologist, 43(3), 376–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, J. N. (1969). Familial behavior as social exchange. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 31(3), 518–526.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esteve, A., & Cortina, C. (2006). Changes in educational assortative mating in contemporary Spain. Demographic Research, 14(17), 405–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esteve, A., & McCaa, R. (2007). Homogamia Educativa en México y Brasil, 1970–2000: Pautas y Tendencias. Latin American Research Review, 42(3), 56–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feagin, J. R., & Feagin, C. (2003). Racial and ethnic relations (7th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flaquer, L. (1999). La Estrella Menguante del Padre. Barcelona: Ariel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman, N., Westoff, C. F., & Hammerslough, C. (1984). Demography of the marriage market in the United States. Population Index, 50(1), 5–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goode, W. J. (1963). World revolution and family patterns. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, M. (1964). Assimilation in American life. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, A. (1987). Intermarriage: Opportunity and preference. Population Studies, 41(3), 365–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. A. (1912). Assortative mating in man. Popular Science Monthly, 80, 476–492.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, D. R., & Ono, H. (2004). How many interracial marriages would be if all groups were of equal size in all places? A new look at national estimates of interracial marriages. Social Science Research, 34, 23–251.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollingshead, A. B. (1950). Cultural factors in the selection of marriage mates. American Sociological Review, 15(5), 619–627.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopenhayn, M., Bello, A., & Miranda, F. (2006). Los Pueblos Indígenas y Afrodescendientes ante el Nuevo Milenio. Santiago de Chile: Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hout, M. (1982). The association between husbands’ and wives’ occupations in two-earner families. The American Journal of Sociology, 88(2), 397–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, H. E. (1929). Homogamy in intellectual abilities. The American Journal of Sociology, 35(3), 369–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, F. L. (1991). Ethnic intermarriage in Australia, 1950–52 to 1980–82: Models or indices? Population Studies, 45(1), 27–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, F. L. (1996). Convergence and divergence in ethnic divorce patterns: A research note. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58(1), 213–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalmijn, M. (1991). Shifting boundaries: Trends in religious and educational homogamy. American Sociological Review, 56(6), 786–800.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalmijn, M. (1998). Intermarriage and homogamy: Causes, patterns, trends. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 395–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalmijn, M., de Graaf, P. M., & Janssen, J. P. G. (2005). Intermarriage and the risk of divorce in the Netherlands: The effects of differences in religion and in nationality, 1974–94. Population Studies, 59(1), 71–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz, A. M., & Hill, R. (1958). Residential propinquity and marital selection: A review of theory, method, and fact. Marriage and Family Living, 20(1), 27–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerckhoff, A. C. (1964). Patterns of homogamy and the field of eligibles. Social Forces, 42(3), 289–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lévi Strauss, C. (1969). Las Estructuras Elementales del Parentesco (2ª ed.). Barcelona: Paidós.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lichter, D. T., Anderson, R. N., & Hayward, M. D. (1995). Marriage markets and marital choice. Journal of Family Issues, 16(4), 412–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mare, R. D. (1991). Five decades of educational assortative mating. American Sociological Review, 56(1), 15–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez Pizarro, J. (2003). El Mapa Migratorio de América Latina y el Caribe, las Mujeres y el Género. Santiago de Chile: Centro Latinoamericano de Demografía (CELADE).

    Google Scholar 

  • McCaa, R. (1993). Ethnic intermarriage and gender in New York City. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 24(2), 207–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McPherson, A., Smith-Lovin, K., & Cook, J. M. (2001). Birds of feather: Homophily in social networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 415–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merton, R. K. (1941). Intermarriage and the social structure: Fact and theory. Psychiatry, 4, 361–374.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minnesota Population Center. (2008). Integrated public use microdata series—international: Version 4.0 (Publication from University of Minnesota. https://international.ipums.org/international/index.html.

  • Murstein, B. I. (1967). Empirical tests of role, complementary needs, and homogamy theories of marital choice. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 29(4), 689–696.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oppenheimer, V. K. (1988). A theory of marriage timing. The American Journal of Sociology, 94(3), 563–591.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pellegrino, A. (2003). La Migración Internacional en América Latina y el Caribe: Tendencias y Perfiles de los Migrantes. Santiago de Chile: Centro Latinoamericano y Caribeño de Demografía (CELADE).

    Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Hoffman, K. (2003). Las Estructuras de Clase en América Latina: Composición y Cambios durante la Época Neoliberal. Santiago de Chile: Comisión Económica para América Latina (CEPAL).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pullum, T. W., & Peri, A. (1999). A multivariate analysis of homogamy in Montevideo, Uruguay. Population Studies, 53(3), 361–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qian, Z. (1997). Breaking the racial barriers: Variations in interracial marriage between 1980 and 1990. Demography, 34(2), 263–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qian, Z. (1998). Changes in assortative mating. The impact of age and education, 1970, 1990. Demography, 35(3), 279–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, H. M. (1939). Studies on mental resemblance between husbands and wives and between friends. Psychological Bulletin, 36, 104–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoen, R. (1986). A methodological analysis of intergroup marriage. Sociological Methodology, 16, 49–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoen, R., Wooldredge, J., & Thomas, B. (1989). Ethnic and educational effects on marriage choice. Social Science Quarterly, 70(3), 617–630.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, C. R., & Mare, R. D. (2005). Trends in educational assortative marriage from 1940 to 2003. Demography, 42(4), 621–646.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simmel, G. ([1917] 1986). Sociología: Estudios sobre las formas de socialización (Vol. 1). Madrid: Alianza Editorial.

  • Smits, J. (2003). Social closure among the higher educated: trends in educational homogamy in 55 countries. Social Science Research, 32(2), 251–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smits, J., Ultee, W., & Lammers, J. (1998). Educational homogamy in 65 countries: An explanation of differences in openness using country-level explanatory variables. American Sociological Review, 63(2), 264–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smits, J., Ultee, W., & Lammers, J. (2000). More or less educational homogamy? A test of different versions of modernization theory using cross-temporal evidence for 60 countries. American Sociological Review, 65(5), 781–788.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • South, S. J. (1991). Sociodemographic differentials in mate selection preferences. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53(4), 928–940.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Surra, C. A. (1990). Research and theory on mate selection and premarital relationships in the 1980s. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52(4), 844–865.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trost, J. (1965). Mate selection, marital adjustment, and symbolic environment. Acta Sociologica, 8(1–2), 27–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ultee, W. C., & Luijkx, R. (1990). Educational heterogamy and father-to-son occupational mobility in 23 industrial nations: General societal openness or compensatory strategies of reproduction? European Sociological Review, 6(2), 125–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winch, R. F., Ktsanes, T., & Ktsanes, V. (1954). The theory of complementary needs in mate selection: An analytic and descriptive study. American Sociological Review, 19(3), 241–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winkler, D. R., & Cueto, S. (Eds.). (2004). Etnicidad, Raza, Género y Educación en América Latina. Santiago de Chile: Programa de Promoción de la Reforma Educativa en América Latina y el Caribe (PREAL).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Project Ref. SEJ2007-60014/SOCI. The authors are grateful to the reviewers for their valuable comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre d’Estudis Demogràfics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, 08193, Spain

    Albert Esteve & Luis López-Ruiz

Authors
  1. Albert Esteve
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Luis López-Ruiz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luis López-Ruiz.

Appendix

Appendix

Tables 2 and 3.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Esteve, A., López-Ruiz, L. Union Formation Implications of Race and Gender Gaps in Educational Attainment: The Case of Latin America. Popul Res Policy Rev 29, 609–637 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-009-9161-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-009-9161-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation