Creating a College-Going Culture for Latino Immigrant Youth: A Mixed-Methods Study of College Access

• In Event: Roundtable Session 78
  In Roundtable Session: Precollege Access Factors

Abstract

This paper explores the factors that influence Latino students’ experiences of inclusion and exclusion from the college-going culture in their school, based on data from a mixed-methods research study in Northern Indiana. It examines students’ experiences with three areas that are crucial to college-going: teacher/staff expectations, access to necessary information and support and positive peer influence. The mixed-methods approach allows for an exploration of school-level variables and overall trends in experiences with college-going within the school as well as analysis of individual students’ experiences within the larger culture of the school. The paper has implications for the ways schools can create an environment which promotes college access through responding to the particular needs of first-generation college-going Latino youth.

Authors

• Aliah Rayna Carolan-Silva, Horizon Education Alliance

• J. Robert Reyes, Goshen College

• Christine Noria, Goshen College