Latina/o Transfer Students

• In Event: Latina/o Voices in Higher Education: New Perspectives Throughout the Pipeline

Abstract

Latinas/os represent one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States; yet, they are not equitably represented in higher education. The majority of Latina/o students begin higher education in community colleges with plans to transfer to 4-year universities. Very few actually transfer. The undereducation of Latinas/os is becoming a national crisis, which necessitates immediate attention due to their projected growth by 30% over the next two decades. The current job and global markets require technically skilled workers who can compete in a global economy. These specialized skills are developed in postsecondary institutions. This qualitative dissertation explores the experiences of Latina/o community college students who have been pushed from the transfer path through the use of counterstorytelling.

The significance of this dissertation is to give voice to Latina/o students who do not transfer to 4-year universities because their stories have not been heard. Rather, these students have been ignored and blamed for not moving through the educational pipeline successfully. Narratives from these students can also give voice to this marginalized group, which may assist them with making sense of the circumstances that influence their educational goal. Their stories can also inform community college administrators, faculty, and staff so that effective policies can be developed to advance Latina/o educational outcomes.

In the United States, Latina/o students are often framed through the use of racial paradigms that characterize them via deficit theories. Some scholars believe that race and class construct college choice (Kurlaender, 2006; McDonough, 1997). Taggart and Crisp (2011) argue that Latina/o students are tracked to community college because they have discriminatory high-school experiences that suppress their college aspirations. It is important to unmask the sociohistorical context that influences how Latina/o students experience education (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001, in Jain, Herrera, Bernal, Solórzano, 2011).

A Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework will be used to examine how inequities in public education push out Latina/o community college students who are on the transfer path. The five tenants of CRT (1) racism as the center of a multifaceted research process including the intersection of race; 2) confrontation of dominant beliefs; 3) focus on social justice; 4) empirical wisdom; 5) interdisciplinary knowledge (Solórzano, 1998), will be applied (Jain et al., 2011) to understand how the educational system’s primary and secondary pedagogical practices intersect with the community college transfer function, which push Latina/o students from the transfer path, resulting in dismal postsecondary educational outcomes.
 

Author

• Susan Salas, California State University - Long Beach