Unraveling the First Year for Latinx Students: Factors That Mitigate and Exacerbate Academic Disengagement

• In Event: Learning and Development Through Racialized Contexts

Abstract

Drawing from quantitative survey data, this study utilizes multiple linear regression to examine the factors that mitigate and exacerbate academic disengagement for Latinx students during their first year in college. Existing literature suggests students benefit from being academically and socially integrated into post-secondary institutions, yet our findings identify a different set of factors that aid Latinx students’ engagement, and ultimately their success and persistence. Because academic disengagement poses a threat to student persistence, it is important to understand Latinx students’ unique social, cultural, and academic experiences both before and during college. Institutions would be wise to capitalize on the assets brought forth by Latinx students to campus by providing meaningful and culturally sensitive support services.

Authors

• Edgar Romo, University of California - Los Angeles

• Ana Karen Gomez, University of California - Los Angeles