What Are Ways To Enhance The Public Understanding Of The Challenges Latinos Face In Accessing Higher Education
As the fastest growing ethnic group in the nation, Latinos have become a force that higher education must consider with more overt attention. We, as a society and nation, must determine and define the current condition of Latinos in U.S. higher education. Why do so many Latino students produce poor academic achievement, the highest dropout rate in the nation, and low college enrollment and graduation rates? What are some characteristics of Latinos in higher education today?
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4 Comments on What Are Ways To Enhance The Public Understanding Of The Challenges Latinos Face In Accessing Higher Education
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Electra on
Sun, 27th Dec 2009 3:03 pm
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arcaemou on
Sun, 27th Dec 2009 7:23 pm
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tenbadth on
Sun, 27th Dec 2009 11:14 pm
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FYRE & REIGN on
Mon, 28th Dec 2009 12:47 am
My friend did her doctoral thesis on this subject and her conclusion is that if Latinos want an education bad enough, they get it.
I did. She did.
Personally, I thought that here were three (3) main barriers to Latinos getting a higher education:
(1) Finances – Latinos tend to be economically disadvantaged and aren’t savvy about applying for grants and other assistance so they need the help of the school to manuver through that;
(2) Family values – Latinos may not value a higher education as much as some other ethnic groups; and
(3) Family responsibilities – Too many Latinas having kids too young.
My parents scrimped and saved to be able to help me go to college and I even went on to get an advanced degree plus I was not one of the ones having kids. My parents taught me that FIRST you get your education, then you get a good job and then, only then, do you marry and reproduce. Not enough Latino parents are instilling those values in their kids.
They must be raised to value higher education and it must be reinforced by their teachers and role models. Downplay the basketball star / rock star types and teach them about people who have saved millions of lives (i.e. Norman Borlaug). . . make sure to cater to their culture and gender so they can relate to the person.
This is a class problem, not a ethnic problem.
Most of what we know we learn at the dinner table. Like me, most Latinos are working class.
At the dinner table, working class kids learn that you are expected to go get a job and work hard. Our parents consider the college educated as slackers and hard work is more respected.
Also parents who haven’t been to college don’t know about getting their kids into college, they just know it costs more money than they have. A 10 year old middle class kid know more about getting into college than most working class parents.
My brother and I are Mexican American. Our grandparents and mother were all born and raised in Mexico. Dad was born and raised here.
I’d say the characteristic most common to Latinos in higher education today is that they love to read and their parents instilled that in them. My mother may have only gone through grade school in Mexico but she reads and she taught herself to read in English. I remember as a grade school kid helping her read the newspaper, helping her learn.
Whether Latino or any other ethnic group, it’s important for kids to be taught to read and for them to enjoy reading, to be well read.
Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
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