Education Policy Advocacy through Community Cultural Wealth: Narratives of Latino U.S. Congressmen

• In Event: Diversity and Inequality

Abstract

Latinxs, especially Latino males, have lower college completion rates, but studies find that community cultural wealth is prominent in the narratives of those who succeed in higher education, even those who go on to serve in the U.S. Congress and have an opportunity to influence education policy. Studies have thus assumed that Latino U.S. Congressmen are advocating for education policies that develop and capitalize on community cultural wealth to increase Latinx college completion rates. This study addresses this oversight in the literature and tests this assumption using interview and bill sponsorship and co-sponsorship data for four Latino U.S. Congressmen: Tony Cárdenas, Lou Correa, Henry Cuellar, and Raúl Grijalva. Findings from the interviews suggest that these Congressmen do advocate for education policies to improve Latinx college graduation rates. Furthermore, their interview responses and the content of the education bills they sponsor and co-sponsor focus on building or leveraging one or more of the six forms of capital that comprise community cultural wealth: aspirational, navigational, social, linguistic, familial, and resistant. These results are significant because they provide greater insight into how a legislator’s background influences their policy work and helps administrators in higher education better understand the types of policies to pursue and advocate for in order to improve Latinx graduation rates.

Authors

• Lisa Hager, South Dakota State University

• Florencio Urías Aranda, Tarleton State University