What We Know about Latina/o Student Access and Success
in Postsecondary Education
A Report to the Lumina Foundation
Raymond Padilla, Ph.D.
132. One researcher attributed high level
Latina/o educational success (through doctoral study) to intense
personal drives for achievement where the subjects vowed not to
live in the kind of poverty they were born into. Opportunity
also played a role in gaining access to a college preparatory
curriculum and the information and resources that made attending
college a reliable goal. Contact with White peer groups also
was important so that Chicana/o students attending racially
mixed schools had greater access to resources (both economic
and as White cultural and symbolic capital).
133. Another study (of Puerto Rican
students) focused on four elements that led to success: The
family and the church as a supportive context for literacy
learning. The students were able to negotiate successfully
their ethnic identity with the culture found in their schools
and colleges. Education and learning were important values in
the home. At critical moments in their education, key
individuals were able to support the students to overcome
obstacles.
134. English-only students were not the
highest achievers in school. The students with the least
transience and the highest academic achievement and commitment
were those who were fully bilingual. The authors hypothesized
that this decline in student achievement that accompanies
acculturation to U.S. society may be related to racial bias in
U.S. culture. They recommend that schools improve students’
academic engagement by teaching effective work habits and study
skills.
135. For Latina/o college students,
individual agency is important for transforming, through daily
practices, university environments that are hostile to Latina/o
students. Daily practices include the use of symbols (posters,
flags, music, etc.) to transform the physical space; use of
Chicana/o scholarship to transform the epistemological world;
and the creation of Chicana/o social networks to transform the
social space. The presence of Chicana/o faculty and staff and
their institutional offices provides Chicana/o students with
safe social zones where they can comfortably be themselves.
136. A study of the first year experience
of Latina/o college students noted that most of the students
indicated that their lack of academic preparedness was a cause
of concern in their transition to college, as was the level and
expectations of college level work and the pace of the courses.
Students indicated that the level of support they received from
their families was important in helping them through their first
year. Many students who lived on campus chose to go home on the
weekends.
137. A study of Latina/o leaders of
student organizations on university campuses concluded that the
most important activities of the organizations were parties,
dances and festivals, lectures, and community service. Female
respondents found membership to be more empowering than males.
Almost all of the students agreed that membership provided them
with social integration on campus. Although the participants
did not feel that their grades had improved due to their
participation in the organizations, they did feel that the
organizations had aided in their persistence.
138. The main barriers identified by
Latino parents to achieving educational aspirations for their
children were lack of time (due to parents working more than ten
hours per day, six days per week), lack of understanding of the
pathways to achieve educational goals, and lack of English
skills. Their children identified racism in their schools, both
from other students and teachers, as a barrier to their
achievement.
139. Proactive behaviors of Latino parents
in support of their children’s education included emphasizing
the importance of education, support for their children’s
autonomy, and nonverbal support (e.g. providing quiet study
space) for the education of their children.
140. Participation in a summer leadership
institute provided Latina/o students with access to a broad
array of institutional agents that in turn could provide
students with access to resources and the cultural capital that
is valued in higher education. The resources mentioned by the
students before participating in the leadership institute were
family members, teachers, and to a lesser extent, counselors.
The summer leadership institute provided access to community
leader and peer counselors that allowed these students access to
social networks that geared them toward higher education,
cultural and community commitment, and pride.
|
