State Systems and the Advancement of Servingness at Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions

• In Event: Exploring the Roles and Opportunities at HSIs and HBCUs for Latina/o/x Community

Abstract

Emerging Hispanic Serving Institutions (eHSIs), institutions whose enrollment is between 15-24% Latinx, represent over 400 institutions across the U.S. Combined with HSIs, nearly a quarter of these institutions are public 4-year colleges and universities. The rise in HSIs presents an important opportunity for state systems. Through the lens of racialized organization theory, this study utilizes discourse tracing over a five-year period to consider how three eHSIs within a single state system construct their HSI identity and advance a discourse of servingness. The findings illustrate how HSI servingness is largely absent from the system discourse until the end of the period but at the eHSIs it emerges and departs from institutional discourse.

Authors

• Darrel Wanzer-Serrano, Texas A&M University

• Ishara Casellas Connors, Texas A&M University

• Mariana Rodriguez, Texas A&M University