IRLC Update: Researching Mexican mobility

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Rosalba Rocha participated in the 2015 Interdisciplinary Research Learning Community. In this piece from CI’s Channel Magazine, she discusses her research with Professor Luis Sánchez.

By Rosalba Rocha, ’16  Sociology

Last year I was given the opportunity to work on research with Assistant Professor of Sociology Luis A. Sanchez. My research project examines social and economic outcomes among the Mexican population in two border cities, San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas, utilizing data from the 2012 American Community Survey.

In particular, I was interested in studying social mobility across the immigrant and native-born population as predicated by the straight-line assimilation theory. My research finds mixed evidence for the classic assimilation model. For example, native-born Mexicans are faring better than foreign-born counterparts in terms of English proficiency and educational attainment. However, in some cases I found no significant nativity differences in home ownership and unemployment rates. Furthermore, the process of social mobility and immigrant incorporation varies between the two cities. My findings suggest that geographic context has important implications for how contemporary immigrants and their offspring are faring in American society.

Map showing El Paso Mexican Foreign-born Residential Concentrations, 2008-2012
My study also incorporated Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze residential patterns in both cities. I was interested in whether native-born Mexicans resided in neighborhoods outside of immigrant enclaves. Figures 1a and 1b illustrate the mobility being experienced in El Paso.

When analyzing San Diego, I found mixed results, leading me to conclude that integration process of Mexican immigrants varies from place and the context of reception. The maps I created for El Paso largely demonstrate that native-born Mexicans live in neighborhoods that are distinct from their immigrant counterparts. My maps for San Diego (not shown), however, reveal that immigrant and native-born Mexicans are living in similar neighborhoods. This finding suggests that context matters for residential mobility.

My reMap showing El Paso Mexican Native-born Residential Concentrations, 2008-2012search experience has been the most rewarding time in my undergraduate career. I was able to meet like-minded individuals from various majors when I was invited to the Interdisciplinary Research Learning Community (IRLC) during the spring of 2015. These individuals reaffirmed the importance of asking questions. I am thankful for the opportunities and experiences I have gained from my research and look forward to continuing to do additional research. Without undergraduate opportunities such as these, many people like myself would not have been introduced to pre-graduate research programs.

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Santa Rosa Island Reflection

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First impressions are very important although we won’t think that they are. One thing we don’t realize is that first impressions last forever. You will always remember the first time you meet someone or your first time going to a new place. When we first arrived to the Santa Rosa Island I was expecting the weekend to be the longest weekend ever. As soon as we arrived Cause Hanna, the Santa Rosa Island Research Station manager, told us that the island had lime disease, ticks, and we couldn’t shower. As soon as he said that my jaw dropped. I immediately hated it and wanted to go home, I wished I had showered the morning of instead of the night before. At the end of the trip I was happy to leave but decided it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Over the weekend I learned so many things and realized it was an opportunity of a life time. On Saturday we did various activities with the professors from Channel Islands that went with us to the Island. I learned that the island doesn’t have the same resources we have here on the mainland. On the mainland we have access to water whenever we want but on the island they don’t. They have to conserve water and not waste it as much as we do on the mainland. On the island we had to plant seeds because they want to have more plants there. They only have a certain species because it doesn’t rain very much on the island. Another thing that I won’t forget about the island is the beautiful and how certain rocks are shaped and textured. An art professor was with us on the island and he was talking to us about all the texture of the island. These two things are significant because the island was once a part of the mainland therefore plants and rocks developed from the same rocks and plants we have here. The only difference is they develop differently and that’s why they don’t look exactly like the plants and rocks we are used to seeing. The seconds day, we went around the islands doing different activities with all of the faculty there. All of the activities were different yet very interesting.  A research project that I suggest could happen on the island is to see the changes in the water around the Islands vs. here on the mainland. Students would take samples of the sand in both places for a long period of time.