Latino adolescents’ academic success: The role of discrimination, academic motivation, and gender Edna C. Alfaro a, * , Adriana J. Uman˜a-Taylor a , Melinda A. Gonzales-Backen a , Mayra Y. Ba´maca b , Katharine H. Zeiders a a Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA b The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA Abstract Guided by the academic resilience perspective, the current longitudinal study examined whether academic motivation mediated the relation between Latino adolescents’ (N ¼ 221) experiences with discrimination and their academic success. The potential moderating role of gender was also examined. Using multiple group analysis in structural equation modeling, findings indicated that perceived discrim- ination at Wave 2 significantly predicted academic motivation at Waves 2 and 3 for boys but not girls. Additionally, for boys, academic motivation significantly mediated the relation between perceived discrimination and academic success. Findings underscore the importance of considering the long-term implications of discrimination for Latino boys’ academic success. Furthermore, findings encourage moving beyond the examination of gender differences in specific academic outcomes (e.g., academic success) and focusing on how the processes leading to academic success vary by gender. Ó 2008 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Latino adolescents; Academic success; Academic motivation; Discrimination; Gender * Corresponding author. Arizona State University, School of Social and Family Dynamics, Box 873701, Tempe, AZ 85287-3701, USA. Tel.: þ1 480 727 8766. E-mail address: edna.alfaro@asu.edu (E.C. Alfaro). 0140-1971/$30.00 Ó 2008 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.08.007 Journal of Adolescence 32 (2009) 941e962 www.elsevier.com/locate/jado