Employment and Education of Mexican-American Women: The Interplay of Modernity and Ethnicity in Eight Families

Abstract

Acculturation has been the major framework used to explain changes in Mexican-American families. It assumes that changing conjugal roles are associated with a corresponding decline in ethnicity. Instead of viewing traditional Mexican values as determinants of conjugal roles, and changes in those roles as the consequence of acculturation,the study examined the effect of wives' employment outside the home and level of education on conjugal interaction. It was found that as women acquired extra-domestic resources, they achieved greater equality in conjugal decision making without sacrificing ethnicity in other realms of family life.