Advising Students Who

Identify as Hispanic/Latino(a)

George Kenneth Morell

NACADA North Carolina

State Drive – In

Conference

Presentation Outcomes:To increase the participants’ understanding and perception of Hispanic/Latino(a) students and their needs.

To enhance advisers’ understanding of the acclimation process of Hispanic/Latino(a) students as it differs from their peers.

To increase attendees’ skill set and confidence in advising, interacting with and serving Hispanic/Latino(a) students.

¿Qué piensas? What do you think?

Hispanic/Latino(a) students are bilingual in Spanish and English

Hispanic/Latino(a) students were not born in the US

Hispanic/Latino(a) students are identifiable because of physical characteristics such as color of hair and skin tone

Hispanic/Latino(a) students come from large extended families

Hispanic/Latino(a) students are Catholic

What is Hispanic? Who is Hispanic?Hispanic (Spanish: hispano, hispánico) is a term that historically denoted relation to the ancient Hispania (geographically coinciding with the Iberian peninsula: modern day Spain and Portugal) or to its pre-Roman peoples.

The term is now used to convey the culture and peoples of countries formerly ruled by Spain, usually with a majority population of Spanish heritage, and usually but not always, speak the Spanish language. These include: Mexico, Central and South America, the Greater Antilles, the Southwestern United States, Florida, the African nations of Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara, and the northern coastal region of Morocco [citation needed]. A Hispanic culture also exists in the Asia-Pacific nations and territories of the Philippines, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Despite their many similarities, Hispanics do not compose a homogeneous people or culture.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Did you know?

The U.S. is now the fourth-largest Spanish speaking country in the world -- with Hispanics/Latinos(as) accounting for 15% of the population.

Hispanics/Latinos(as) in the

General Population

From http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.s

howArticle&art_aid=97962

A recent survey of 2,970 members of Knowledge Panel Latino panel -- from across the spectrum of acculturation, income, and English/Spanish dominance -- provided views on assimilation and culture.

Do Hispanic/Latino(a) individuals in

the US wish to assimilate?

Hispanics are committed to assimilating: While the majority (75%) of foreign-born U.S. Hispanics feel that their real homeland is their country of origin, most are in the U.S. to stay, with 82% aspiring to become citizens. Most Hispanics feel it is important to maintain their culture (72%); but 62% also feel that they need to "change to blend into the larger society" and 85% say that anyone who comes to the U.S. to stay needs to learn English.

How important are relationships

with family and friends?

Family and friends trump many other priorities: While many seem willing to make sacrifices in order to live a successful life in the U.S., only 38% of all U.S. Latinos said they would give up time with family and friends to be successful.

Latino/Latina Students

Quién es Latino?

La Familia75% under 39

21% below poverty level

87% employed in service

related jobs

Mi Familia

¿De dónde eres?Mexico (65.1%)

Puerto Rico (8.2%)

Cuba (1.9%)

Latinos in Higher EducationAlmost 25% of Latinos in Higher Education Family incomes falls under $18,465.

Majors and choices in curriculum are influenced by the economic need of the family.

The academic adviser is

the expert.

• Access often blocked to Higher Education due to immigration status.

• Work and family life is more important that lifelong educational attainment or achievement.

• More likely to be first generation students. (49%)

• More Latina women (60%) than men attend college.

With Diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School

Seniors Talk About Their Future, a new report

prepared by Public Agenda for the National

Center for Public Policy and Higher Education

New focus group research suggests that academically qualified Hispanic high school students are often derailed on the road to higher education by:low expectations from teachers

poor understanding of the college admissions process

poor understanding of the financial aid process

little adult support

belief that specific career goal is necessary for enrollment in college

“Modeling Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs): Campus Practices that Work for Latino Students”

explores strategies used by institutions with significant Latino enrollments

by Excelencia in Education

examined six community colleges and six public universities — in California, New York and Texas.

Community outreach: East Los Angeles College works with students in middle and high schools to teach them math and prepare them for college math.

Academic support: El Camino College set up a First Year Experience Program in which students participate in learning communities (programs in which cohorts take multiple classes together), and also receive help from peer and faculty mentors.

Data use: New York City College of Technology, of the City University of New York, conducted surveys of students and found that many minority students were troubled by a lack of communication with professors and advisers about career goals. The college responded by creating new programs for undeclared majors and revamping career counseling.

Faculty development: El Camino College started a

new program to teach professors how to pronounce

names they might not know, with the goal of making

all students feel more comfortable in the classroom.

Transfer paths: The report pointed out that almost

half of Latino students begin their higher education at

a community college. The University of Texas El Paso

works with the local school districts as well as the

El Paso Community College to make the transitions

smooth — and offers special summer programs and

scholarships for community college students.

The report also several general suggestions

for working with Latino students:

“Provide a holistic approach to serving Latino students within the institution.”

“Partner with other education organizations in the community to align educational resources.”

“Seek external sources to develop and test innovative practices while adding proven practices to the institutional budget.”

“Use short-term measures of academic progress to guide improvement in curricula instruction, and support services for Latino students.”

Relevant Theories:

People of Color

Racial Identity Model

(Helms, 1995)Conformity

Dissonance

Immersion

Emersion

Internalization

Integrative Awareness

Cultural variables need to

be taken into account

Psychosocial student

development theory

(Kodoma, McKwen, Liang,

Lee, 2002)Identity & purposes of college

5 areas of development:

interdependence

Integrity

Emotions

Relationships

Competency

Context of two external forces

Family & culture

American society

Other identities

In their own words…

Comments from Hispanic/Latino(a)

students at NC State

I feel that in some cases I have to study twice as hard. Although my performance at school has not suffered, I have to read things twice and in few occasions I've had to ask for help to understand questions in a test.

Comments (continued)

The only way my ethnicity has affected my academics is whenlanguage gets involved. College level language is tough and sometimes thematerial is difficult to understand.

Comments (continued)

I think the faculty needs to be aware that some students who go for a college education might still be limited proficient in English. Because they have graduated from high school that doesn't mean they are fluent speakers or competent readers or writers.

Comments (continued)

I think the majority of the university professors are sensitive to other cultures, but I also think they should always try to keep in mind other people's backgrounds when writing tests.

Comments (continued)It was hard for me to decide to attend

college that's why first I went to a

community college part-time instead. I am

the only one out of all my Hispanic friends

from high school who attended

college. The only thing that pushed me

towards college was myself. As soon as

we graduated from High School all of my

friends began to get pregnant or

married. As a matter of fact they are ALL

pregnant now. I saw this and didn't want

that for myself, I wanted to get an

education.

Resources in North Carolina

El Pueblo helps by Informing Latino students about the benefits of

pursuing higher education and the wide array of opportunities that exist by

conducting workshops and presentations that educate our Latino youth

about the college preparation process as well as work with students on an

individual basis to help them fill out their college applications and search for

scholarships.

http://www.elpueblo.org/

NCSHP North Carolina Society of Hispanic Professionals

The mission of the North Carolina Society of Hispanic Professionals is to

enhance the integration and cooperation among the Hispanic professionals

of North Carolina and concerned individuals and organizations to promote

the education of Hispanic students at all levels.

http://www.thencshp.org/index.shtml

National Resources

LULAC/League of United Latin American Citizens

The Mission of the League of United Latin American Citizens is to

advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political

influence, housing, health and civil rights of the Hispanic population of

the United States.

http://www.lulac.org/

PEW

The Pew Hispanic Center is a nonpartisan research organization

that seeks to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic

population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the nation.

http://pewhispanic.org/

Acknowledgements

Susan Navey-Davis, Senior Lecturer in Spanish and Assistant Department Head for Student Affairs

Frankye Artis, Director, Transition Program, NCSU