Foregrounding Family: How Salvadoran American Boys Formulate College‐Going Mindsets at the Nexus of Family, School, and the Self

Abstract

I investigated how two U.S.-born Salvadoran eleventh grade boys formulated college-going mindsets at the nexus of family-based cultural influences, adolescent development, masculinity, and academic self-appraisals. With asset-based theories, findings show how immigrant families encouraged college going by shielding their sons from noneducational responsibilities and conveyed educational messages with words and deeds. Participants formulated mindsets by interpreting family-and school-based messaging and weighing college going against gender-based responsibilities. Implications for educational anthropologists and practitioners are provided.[Latino males, urban education, Latino families, college access, Salvadoran Americans] Like a strong individual? His family is strong. If your family is strong, then what do Hispanics honor the most? It's family! -Perdido (17-year-old, U.S.-born Salvadoran American boy, May 16, 2014 Interview) So by going to college, you can change that; you start changing, like the future generations of your family. -Lucas (17-year-old, U.S.-born Salvadoran American boy, June 12, 2014 Interview)These quotes, which I gathered during a nearly schoolyear-long ethnographic study, show that for Perdido and Lucas (pseudonyms they chose), a strong Latino selfhood is rooted in a strong family, a family whose well-being would be transformed in futurities by their choice to attend college. When considering college going, adolescent Latino boys engage in complex negotiations at the nexus of masculinity, familial concern, and selfappraisals (Carey 2019). The views of Perdido and Lucas here, and throughout this article, amplify the often-unheard voices of low-income Latino adolescent boys, challenge deficit portrayals of them and their families (see Conchas and Hinga 2016;Noguera et al. 2013;Sáenz et al. 2016), and reveal the nuanced ways they foreground family in their collegegoing mindsets.College-going mindsets, here, reflect both the psychological and social attitudes individuals hold for their postsecondary education (see Han et al. 2017). These mindsets drive not only students' college ambitions but also their engagement in the "college preparation processes" (Griffin and Allen 2006), or the development of academic skills and knowledge that facilitate their college choice and readiness. Norms of adolescent development and culturally distinctive familial values also govern how Latinx ("Latinx" is used here and elsewhere when reflecting phenomenon linked to not just boys or men) teenagers formulate college-going mindsets (Savitz-Romer and Bouffard 2012). Social cognitive theory (Bandura 1986(Bandura , 2012 brings this developmental point to bear by illuminating how the observable actions of family members prime adolescents for discerning their own paths to achieve college goals while forming their own "anticipatory outcomes" (Bandura 2012;Carey 2018Carey , 2019.

“Whatever You Become, Just Be Proud of It.” Uncovering the Ways Families Influence Black and Latino Adolescent Boys’ Postsecondary Future Selves

“…The encouragement parents provided, however, served as a source of motivation for students” (p. 387). Findings from Martinez and Castellanos’s research and other studies (Carey, 2016, 2021) reveal families emphasize good grades and behavior as precursors to obtaining a fulfilling career and life. Notably, adolescents form career aspirations via an interactive process, where “the individual both influences and is influenced by the social, cultural, and physical features of his or her environment” (Whiston & Keller, 2004, p. 493).…”

“…When Black families strengthen their boys’ academic self-efficacy, teach them about cultural heritage, and offer strategies to thwart barriers, school success greatly increases (Kerpelman et al, 2008; Mandara, 2006). Latino families supplement school learning with educación , a child-rearing norm rooted in respect and morality that emphasizes avoiding trouble, studying hard, and using educational advantages to secure better lives (Auerbach, 2007; Carey, 2021; Chambers et al, 2015; Torres et al, 2020; Valdés, 1996).…”

“…Black and Latino families also influence their children’s education by choosing the most ideal school and by molding their educational ambitions (Allen, 2015; Auerbach, 2007; Carey, 2021; Chapman et al, 2018; Freeman, 2012; Jenkins, 2020; Johnson & McGowan, 2017; Knight & Marciano, 2013; Quiñones & Kiyama, 2014). The Black mothers in Cooper’s (2007) study chose certain schools based on their beliefs that education would help their children “become financially independent; to compete against more affluent peers; to protect and defend themselves in a racist society; and to have greater life options” (p. 498).…”

“…Black and Latino adolescent boys also rely heavily on fictive kin to serve as proximal college and career role models and motivators (Carey, 2016; Scott & Deutsch, 2021). Such support mechanisms may be invisible to educators but are culturally rooted, congruent to familial and community norms, and thus salient in motivating children’s college-going mindsets and ambitions (Carey, 2016, 2021; Patrón, 2020).…”

“…Although familial expectations and educational supports are salient, how Black and Latino adolescents actually interpret and internalize familial messaging reveals what may actually propel their goal actualization (Carey, 2021; Ford, 1993). Notably, Black and Latino boys internalize family influences in relation to other forces (e.g., media, neighborhood, etc.)…”