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Social Exchange Practices Among Mexican-Origin Women In Nogales, Arizona: Prospects For Education Acquisition, Anna O. Oleary

Anna Ochoa OLeary

This paper summarizes quantitative and qualitative findings from a 1999 study of Mexican-origin households in Nogales, Arizona. It finds that women’s educational progress is facilitated by social support and, even more important, that a household’s investment in the education of its members is significantly raised with an increase in the education level of the female head of household. It argues that systematic efforts to build on existent cultural frameworks of social support will promote women’s educational progress and help improve educational opportunities for all people of Mexican origin.