Lack of Latino Students in College

As immigrants, parents put much more emphasis on children’s study issues and thus children with immigrant parents are typically imbued with a strong sense of family obligation and ethnic pride, and with the importance of education which may help these children getting better grades. (Shields & Behrman, 2004)

Growing up in a Hispanic household has shaped and built my values in life. At Appleton North High School, I am one out of the few Hispanic students. Knowing that my parents have migrated to America to give me a better future has motivated me to make it happen. Although, as a Mexican-American, I have felt out of place as a minority. However, with time I learned to accept my cultural differences. In fact, to this day, I thank my widowed father for the sacrifices and greater opportunities he has given me. My goal is to keep representing the few Hispanic students in college by working hard to achieve my career goals; not all Hispanics are fortunate enough to attend college. I also work to inspire young Hispanics to find their potential and follow

My parents always wanted to give their children the life they never had. I am Mexican-American, both of my parents immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. before I was born. I have numerous relatives, including my older sister, who do not have the same opportunities I have to achieve success because they are undocumented. For them, college was only a dream that could never be attained. Being the first U.S. citizen out of my entire family affected the way I thought about life. It was expected that I would attend college because I was the only one who had access to all the resources granted to American citizens. Although, I agreed with my family, the pressure to succeed and be a role model to my younger siblings was overwhelming.

Approximately 200,000 to 225,000 undocumented immigrants enroll in American institutions of higher education and represent 2 percent of all students in college (Suarez-Orozco, Katsiaficas, Birchall, Alcantar, & Hernandez, 2015). Undocumented students have low rates of enrollment to programs of higher education in comparison to documented students. When undocumented students begin college, they go through struggles to adapt and assimilate to college life. As a result of feeling disconnected to the campus they attend, undocumented students may look for different options for support, such as clubs and centers offered for students. In recent years, there have been legal changes set in place to support the success of undocumented students enrolled in higher education, which include in state tuition, financial aid, and scholarship opportunities. These changes have given undocumented students more choices and access to

This paper will try to explain the variety of hardships many Mexican-American students endure in hopes to gain a higher education. Many are driven by the “American Dream”, which is the idea that individuals living in the U.S. have the equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and abilities. The American Dream often motivates foreigners to enter the United States illegally, hoping for that “equal opportunity” to success. However, not everyone living in the U.S. has equal opportunities, compared to native-born American citizens. This is why it can be difficult for Mexican-American students to attend colleges and universities. A higher education is difficult to obtain for Mexican-American students because of their low socioeconomic status, their differing cultural and structural characteristics, and the social and political institutions in our current society. Although this paper does not focus on the educational opportunities in Mexico, this paper will mostly focus on the educational system in the United States, particularly California State University, San Bernardino. In addition, this paper will refer to Mexican-American students as first-generation college students.

Being a first generation college student is a heavy load to carry due to the constant reminder of having to be a good role model for my siblings. Children of immigrants are often highly expected to excel in their academics and to be involved in extracurricular activities. His/her parent immigrated to the “Land of The Free” in order to receive a better life and to give their children a place to call home. They work from one to two jobs a week just so that we can dig through the pantry, and raid the refrigerator. We sometimes take our parents for granted unknowingly, and constantly fill our heads with a question that we all seem to ask. “How do I please my parents?”, “What do I have to do to make them happy?”. As students we should all be voicing “College!”. Yes, maybe our folks’s dreams have faded away, however that should be our motivation to aim higher; to achieve our American Dream. Throughout our years of education, our very own relatives and teachers have emphasized on the importance of receiving a higher education. I have come to realize that I should not be asking myself “How do I please my parents?”. Instead, “How do I please myself?”, “What will my lifetime goals be?”, “Will it leave my parents hard work in vain?”. Obtaining a higher education will not impact their lives, but will affect yours drastically. My American Dream has always been to become an immigration lawyer that deals with international relations or to become a professor teaching my true passion for

Growing up as a first-generation college-bound Hispanic woman has proven to be a difficult journey. Both of my parents left their home countries at a young age and came to this country without any ideas or real opportunities on where to begin. At a young age, I have been taught that having a higher education is the key to having a successful and plentiful life. However, the journey towards achieving my dream of receiving a higher education has been filled with moments where I have challenged the stereotypes about getting pregnant and dropping out of high school, facing my grandma’s unexpected illness that affected me both academically and mentally, and the challenge of being a first generation college bound student in my family.

This study was also conducted by interviewing to get results and was to analyze the desire for higher education . The study for Ms. Olive revealed that parents’ education is important for students as it can either encourage or discourage the students from seeking higher education (2014). The study stated that the Hispanics students might not seek higher education as they feel that they are less prepared psychologically and academically (2015). Along with those some factors, the study revealed that to influence them, the students, to seeking higher educations it helps when they are “influenced by respected others: resilience, persistence, and self-efficacy: need for distinction and career satisfaction: spirituality and divine influence,” (2014 p.87). The results that were found among between both researchers are important to understanding the causes of the

In a 2004 journal by Susan Auerbach, the concept of parental influence and support for Latina/o students is addressed. Auerbach shares that, “Research suggests the pivotal role of parents in promoting students’ college going” (Auerbach, p.127). It is no mystery that parents have great influence over their children, and when a parent is uneducated on how to best advise their child regarding higher education, they are unable to use this influence to encourage attendance. Auerbach states, “Families without a tradition of college going do not have sufficient knowledge to help their children navigate pathways to college” (Auerbach, p.140). According to the Latino Eligibility Study, the single most important barrier to college access for Latino students in California is lack of active knowledge of the steps needed to go to college (Gandara, 1998,2002). Parents of first generation students need tools that can aid in the child’s success and serve as a means of knowledge on what can be a challenging and confusing process. Another issue tied to parent involvement and understanding is that, “Poor and working class Latino families come to college preparation relatively late in students’ careers, with fewer resources and more obstacles” (Auerbach, p.136). The journal supports the idea that Latino/a parents are in need of early access to college preparation education in order to be able to challenge and support their

By the droves, these students, as a result of teacher expectations, are disengaging from their own education to carry out the self-fulfilling prophecy of mediocrity. The fact that 83% of educators are White, middle class women creates another layer of disconnect for Latino students who are unable to positively identify with successful role models who share their background (Gandara, 2000). Unable to see themselves reflected in the degree-earning demographics and having few encounters with educators who are adequately trained to understand their plight, Latino youth are simply rendered impotent to affect change, thus completing their assent into hopelessness.

Buenrostro emphasized the idea of Latino children being the majority ethnicity population attending K-12th California public schools. Documenting his research process Buenrostro demonstrated many statistics on school enrollment and challenging academic performance that Latino students from grades K-6th are facing. Buenrostro ultimately concludes that the results provided in this factsheet will help school districts and board members take action and come up with an idea on what can be improved in order to help these particular students succeed and obtain necessary resources. Ultimately, this fact sheet represents an important contribution to my research topic because it addresses numerous ideas about the education system in Latino students.

Zarate shows us the reality that minorities face when wanting AP courses; “It appears that schools with high minority student concentrations did not increase their AP course offerings to mirror similar-sized schools’ AP offerings” (Zarate,15). Even within these students who are under the college pathway, the limited college exam preparations, AP and honors classes that they receive are not enough to make them competitive when wanting admissions to higher education. These students who are under the college pathway are usually identified as “gifted” or talented students which is only around ten percent of the total student population. For the rest of the students who have the same ability to be taking these classes if their parents, teachers, counselors or themselves do not make an effort for the students to experience these classes they will always be behind and not be in the college pathway as the other students. “Their history, which involves educational tracking and sub-standard schools, has affected Latinos’ entry into higher education. Rather than accept the prevailing myths that Latinos and other students of color come from families that do not value higher education, this insists that we recognize how they have traditionally been tracked by ineffective schools into non-college-bound majors, which has resulted in their disproportionate attendance”

“Kids who are the first in their families to brave the world of higher education come on campus with little academic know-how and are much more likely than their peers to drop out before graduation” (1). Many people believe that school isn’t for everyone, and whoever goes is privileged for doing so. Countless people in the world today do not attend college, and this is mainly due to an influence of those in their family. Perhaps they are unsupportive of higher education, their parents and family members may view their entry into college as a break in the family system rather than a continuation of their schooling and higher learning. Most of the first-generation students decide to apply to colleges, because they aspire to jobs which require degrees. However, unlike some students whose parents have earned a degree, they often seek out college to bring honor to their families, and to ensure they make a decent amount of money for their future.

Students from all over the United States are told all through their life that they need to attend college if they ever want to be successful, however, this is far from the truth. Often schools are culprits for driving students to attend money driven colleges, in other cases it is family. While schools all too often make the push on students to continue their schooling, parents can cause the same situation, as they may not have a degree and be working a low-paying factory job. Now kids already don’t want to be like their parents when they get older, so seeing them suffer in poverty or barely above the poverty line can cause some dissatisfaction, further seeking a degree to live a life that they never got. What many

Although many peoples’ most significant memories of college are those outside of the classroom, a degree is not conferred based upon such things. Rather, students’ academic performance is what determines whether students earn a degree or certificate. Academic issues were a point of concern at many institutions as incoming students often struggled with basic skills. Furthermore, international students who needed remedial English were less likely to persist (Mamiseishvili, 2012). There have been numerous issues, obstacles, and challenges that may inhibit a student’s ability to navigate the rigors of college. Much has been discussed concerning improved educational opportunities for minority and underrepresented students in