While we call attention to the wide gap between Latino students and all other population segments in receiving a post-secondary education and the resulting significant ramifications in every area of society, we must also sound an alarm at the continually decreasing number of male Latinos completing post-secondary degrees. A growing public concern is being voiced about the declining number of all males entering higher education, but where is the call to action on behalf of the already small and still declining number of Latino male students entering higher education? Professors Victor B. Saenz and Luis Ponjuan thoroughly explore the social, cultural and economic factors that contribute to this phenomenon as well as reveal what Latino males of college age are engaged in instead of higher education. Where will Latino male role models rise from to lead the next leaders? From labor, the military, or prison? This country is in desperate need of educated Latino male leaders in every sector of society. Without them, the country's knowledge worker potential will be debilitated. Saenz and Ponjuan also offer exemplars of programs, foundations, and organizations that are dedicated to supporting and encouraging Latino males to take on leadership roles and excel in education. It is up to us, our institutions, and local, state and federal policymakers to take heed of these examples and fund similar endeavors across the country.
This study examined whether or not students who either had higher levels of cross-racial interaction during college or had same-institution peers with higher average levels of this type of interaction tend to report significantly larger developmental gains than their counterparts. Unlike previous quantitative studies that tested cross-racial interaction using single-level linear models, this study more accurately models the structure of multilevel data by applying Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The general pattern of findings suggests that higher individual levels of cross-racial interaction have positive effects on students' openness to diversity, cognitive development, and self-confidence. The results also show that even though a student's own level of cross-racial interaction is a more direct and powerful way to realize developmental gains, simply being in an environment where other students are interacting frequently also contributes to students' self-reported development.
This paper explores affirmative action as a social movement with two goals in mind: (a) to challenge dominant notions of higher education reform, while advancing a social movement perspective; and (b) to advance understanding of the role of collective action in supporting affirmative action in college admissions. The authors highlight ways in which proponents and opponents of affirmative action have utilized collective action as a means for advancing particular ideological visions relative to race-based admissions policies.
The purpose of this study is to apply Yosso's community cultural wealth framework to the experiences of Latino male community college students to understand how they balance family obligations, work, and academics while also navigating their educational pathways. Method: The research team conducted 23 semistructured focus groups with 130 Latino male students enrolled full-and part-time at seven distinct community colleges in Texas. Results: Findings reveal the important role family members play in the educational pathway of Latino males who relied heavily on familismo and familial capital as a source of support as they matriculated through the community college environment. Despite entering the community college with multiple sources of community cultural wealth, Latino males had a difficult time navigating their educational experiences due to their first in family, first-generation status, and their apprehension around help-seeking. Contributions: Despite the multiple roles and responsibilities Latino males hold within their family units, they do not pose limitations on their educational pathways; rather, these family relationships motivate Latino males and provide them with support that strengthens their aspirations to persist onto graduation.
In this article, Richard J. (Rich) Reddick and Victor B. Sáenz, two assistant professors of color, utilize scholarly personal narrative to reflect on their trajectory from undergraduates at a predominantly White institution—one prominently mired in a legacy of discrimination and exclusion toward people of color—to faculty members at that same institution. Employing the concept of (in)visibility to discuss their alternating feelings of exclusion and acceptance in the university community, Reddick and Sáenz describe how they endeavor to maintain their senses of self through the support of family, mentors, and their home communities. The institution's efforts to reconcile its difficult history through community outreach and structural changes provide what appears to be a safe space for these hermanos académicos (academic brothers), though the two scholars continue to struggle with multiple and sometimes competing responsibilities: navigating the institution, retaining their cultural integrity, and meeting the demands of the academy. The authors conclude by making recommendations for institutions invested in increasing faculty diversity and calling for greater use of scholarly personal narratives to detail the experiences of underrepresented communities in predominantly White institutions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.