Latino Student College Choice and Pentecostalism: My Church Family Needs Me

• In Event: Cultivating Institutional Responses for Latinx College Students to Thrive

Abstract

Latinos who identify with the Pentecostal movement are expanding. This research continues the study of Latino student college choice by focusing on the influence of Pentecostal social networks. Familism has been found to have a profound effect of Latino college decision making. This phenomenological study provides descriptions of Latino Pentecostal students influenced by their religious networks to avoid college residency. We find an extended form of “church” familism within the Latino Pentecostal subculture and a desire to avoid the cultural collision that campus life can provoke for pronounced religious cultures. We advocate for consideration of the Latino Pentecostal community into policy decisions concerning campus ministry and other making-meaning spaces.

Authors

• Michael Farrow, Rowan University

• James Coaxum, Rowan University