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Struggles to paths of success: voices of 10 first-generation Latino male students

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Struggles to paths of success: voices of 10 first-generation Latino male students

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Content STRUGGLES TO PATHS OF SUCCESS:
VOICES OF 10 FIRST-GENERATION LATINO MALE STUDENTS
by
Juan Rodriguez
A Dissertation Submitted to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
May, 2022
Copyright 2022 Juan Rodriguez
DEDICATION
To my siblings, Yasmin, Nancy, and Jesse; my parents, Teodoro and Maria Rodriguez; as
well as other Mexican Americans, Latinos, people of color, and to those students of color in the
community college system who are striving toward success.
To those students and loved ones who remind me of why I have worked so intensely to
conquer the problems of life (crises, obstacles, hardships, financial instability, etc.) as they rise
above theirs.
To my grandparents and friends, who always had nothing but love and faith in my abili-
ties to overcome any crisis and still succeed and to those who supported me along the way to earn
this doctorate degree from the University of Southern California (USC).
To God, my family, and everyone else who have always encouraged and validated me
since the first day I started this doctoral program at USC. I could not have done this without their
support and presence in my life.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My parents, Teodoro and Maria Rodriguez, crossed the border so that I could cross the
stage—this time for a doctorate. Seventeen years ago, I would have never imagined that I would
have the opportunity to write a dissertation on a study to which I can relate because of similar
experiences and struggles similar to mine that many other Latino male students have experienced
themselves.
I thank God for giving me the opportunity to complete my dissertation because, without
my faith in Him, none of this would be possible. I would also like to thank everyone, whether
blood related or not, for supporting me through this challenging process. These include excep-
tional individuals who are in heaven and whom I genuinely miss every day, such as Rodolfo V.
Ochoa; Tony Rios; Tito A. Soto; my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Green; my Uncle Raul; and my
fantastic Husky dog Sasha whom I miss terribly. May they all rest in peace.
I also thank my fraternity, the gentleman of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity for plant-
ing in me the seed that flourished in me since the day I crossed the border. I am grateful to the
owner and workers at my favorite coffeeshop in the city of Long Beach, California, Hot Java, for
always accommodating me with space so that I could work on this dissertation and for making
my café latte fresh.
Cheers and special thanks to my chair, my cohort class of 2018, as well as the rest of the
academic community USC, whose work and production were significant to this process. Without
them, I would be incomplete.
Last, but certainly not least, I thank the 10 participants who shared their personal, quality
time and rich information regarding experiences as first-generation Latino male students
(FGLMs). Their tenacity, hard work, and courage to defy the odds to pursue higher education
iii
were encouraging, inspiring, and necessary to the quality and support of this society. I am hum-
bled, proud, and grateful to do my part to strengthen California’s quality of education for all
students, including , and for their families who want their children to achieve their highest poten-
tial in the United States. May their light continue to shine brightly as they all reach high to the
horizons in their endeavors, as they inspire others to do the same. Echenle Ganas Raza, Si Se
Pudo!
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Abstract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Purpose of the Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Research Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Significance of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Delimitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Operational Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Organization of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Chapter 2: Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
History and Context of Hispanics in American Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Latino Students at Community Colleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
First-Generation College Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Barriers for Latino Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Latina/os Pursuing College. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Economics of the Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Latino Persistence and Support Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Mentoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Family Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Research on Latino Males. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Theoretical Frameworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Critical Race Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Validation Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
The Internal Impact of Validation: Transformational Transitional Changes . . . . . . . . 54
Chapter Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Chapter Three: Research Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Research Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Site Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Research Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Recruitment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Counterstorytelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Data Collection and Coding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Credibility and Validity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
v
Researcher’s Positionality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Chapter Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter 4: Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Description of Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Participant #1: Pedro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Participant #2: Rodolfo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Participant #3: Noel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Participant #4: Ruben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Participant #5: Tony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Participant #6: Raul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Participant #7: Jesse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Participant #8: Enrique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Participant #9: Charlie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Participant #10: Tito . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Findings Related to Research Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Introduction to Themes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Theme 1: In-Classroom Validation Experiences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Theme 2: Machismo and Asking for Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Theme 3: Out-of-Classroom Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Theme 4: Internal Validation Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Chapter Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Chapter Five: Discussion, Implications, Recommendations, and Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Discussion: Themes Linked to the Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
In-Classroom Validation Experiences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Out-of-the-Classroom Validation Experiences and Dealing With Gender and
Masculinity Roles and Issues Outside the Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Internal Validation Experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Limitations and Strengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Implications for Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Recommendations for Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Appendix A: Recruitment Flyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Appendix B: Recruitment Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Appendix C: Follow-up Email to Potential Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Appendix D: Informed Consent Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Appendix E: Demographic Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Appendix F: Interview Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Appendix G: Transcriptionist Confidentiality Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Summary of Participants: Demographic Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Table 2: Themes and Subthemes That Emerged in the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Students’ Transition to Higher Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Figure 2: Education Level of Participants’ Fathers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Figure 3: Educational Level of Participants’ Mothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Figure 4: Research Question as Related to the Emergent Themes and Subthemes in the
Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
viii
ABSTRACT
The present study sought to examine unique challenges that first-generation Latino male students
(FGLMs) face, along with contributing factors that helped to shape their college experience when
adjusting to two community colleges in southern California. The selected institutions were large
community colleges located in urban settings within Los Angeles County. Both colleges were
predominantly White commuter institutions, accredited by the North America Accrediting Com-
mission for Community and Junior Colleges and the Western Association of Schools and Col-
leges, an independent department accredited by the Council of Accreditation of Higher Education
and the U.S. Department of Education’s national accreditation board. This storytelling, qualita-
tive study consisted of 10 personalized interviews of currently enrolled FGLMs at both selected
colleges. Participants were selected based on the following specific criteria: male, age 18 or older,
first-generation Latino attending college (e.g., identifying as Mexican, Mexican American,
Central and South American), and having accumulated 60+ units with goal of earning an AA or
Associate of Science (AS) degree and/or planning to transfer to a 4-year private or public in-state
or out-of-state institution to earn a bachelor’s degree. Participants’ ages were between 18 and 30
years old. This study identified important findings and conclusions that impacted successful
FGLMs the most: (a) validation by peers, mentors, and families; (b) college academic readiness,
and (c) dedication, faith, and determination. The identified barriers and other essential factors and
influences should guide leaders of institutions as they allocate campus resources and develop
student success programs to address student retention and persistence for FGLMs in community
college settings.
Keywords: first-generation, community colleges, Latino men, attainment, validation
ix
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
It has never been more important to create environments that encourage the success of
students of color (SOCs) in college (Locks et al., 2008). Unfortunately, the enrollment and per-
sistence rates among low-income SOCs and students with an array of disabilities continue to fall
behind their White and Asian peer counterparts, with Latino students academically slipping
behind all other ethnic groups of students (Léon, 2003). Applying and persisting through a 2-year
(or more) community college can be a daunting mission for anyone to undertake. Being the first
in one’s family to do so can make each step of the way nerve wracking and challenging to con-
front and subsequently succeed. Students without parents or immediate loved ones who have
gone to college are unable to turn to their relatives for college-related questions such as financial
aid, applications, or even picking an appropriate major. These students often feel divided between
themselves and the other students who can relate to and rely on their families or loved ones for
support (Locks et al., 2008). For example, one study by Pascarella et al. (2004) noted that there
had been many factors contributing to Latino family support and encouragement that had been
left out of data from past studies on Latino student retention and graduation rates and that can be
taken into account regarding how family roles as well as emotional and economic support have
helped low-income Latino students in college. Data consistently have demonstrated that institu-
tions and schools have always misunderstood the role that Latino families have played when it
comes to family support and engagement. Almost always leaving out the majority of the sociocul-
tural issues that influence the academic success of SOCs, such as FGLMs persisting in college
(Omi & Winant, 2014).
Data from a study that was conducted during the years 2014 to 2016 demonstrated that the
number of Latino male students in the southwest region enrolled in community colleges had
1
increased from 13.9% to over 35.9% of the total student body population (Gandara et al., 2012).
Given the country’s demographic census and projections, the college’s Office of Institutional
Research projected that Latinos would become most of the student population by 2034
(Rodríguez-Madera & Varas-Díaz, 2012). The statistics on Latino men in college are concerning
because the community colleges’ current lack of resources and structures of academic prepared-
ness are failing these student populations, thus widening the gap in college enrollment between
Latinos and White students across the country. Studies on higher education offer significant
evidence on the academic and personal struggles that SOCs make as they persist through their
college education. Ironically, researchers have not considered the mental and personal impact of
institutional racism on SOCs’ academic achievement, particularly male SOCs attending college
campuses across the nation.
The majority of challenges that many first-generation Latino students face often stem
from parental educational levels and family income (Laden, 1998), underperforming and weak
academic preparation (Warren & Passel, 1987), and the lack of access to information regarding
how to apply to the college-going process and initial college admissions (Turner, 1994). Lately, in
recent academic research, student academic success and attainment have been a common focus,
noting that Latino students often tend to rely on familial, community support and resources, and
extended social networks to thrive and persist in their studies (Yosso, 2016). Retention rates
among students of Latin descent are correlated by how well these groups of students were pro-
vided with peer support, guidance, academic performance, positive mentoring experiences, and
validation (Rendón, 2002). Also, academic success among Latin female students in college is
well documented. For example, one study by Wood and Harris (2013) reported that existing
literature has not sufficiently documented pathways of Latino male college students’ experiences,
2
particularly of those of the first generation attending college. Unfortunately, this gender-based
correlation is still unintentionally overlooked or understudied as a deficit link between being
Latino and not pursuing a college education.
Studies have demonstrated that female students have outperformed male students among
college graduation rates as of the year 2000 (U.S. Department of Education, 2018). According to
Resto (2015), “students of color such as Latino male students, lag behind their Latina student
counterparts in terms of all academic aspects such as higher education admissions, enrollment,
and degree completion rates” (p. 2). Seventy percent of Hispanic college students who graduated
in 2010 are Latina females. Academic and gender gaps were found to be the highest among
Latina female college students across American institutions, although the graduation rates have
increased among various Latino communities across the country (U.S. Department of Education,
2018).
Although Latinos in America are among the largest minority groups, they are continu-
ously falling behind their White counterparts, thus leaving them at a disadvantage as the economy
further evolves with competitive jobs and careers. Currently, there is a significant lack of litera-
ture to address the gaps in research that concern Latino male students in community colleges;
therefore, this critical qualitative study challenges this framework to better present an up-to-date
study through extractions from current data and other ongoing studies. This study was con-
structed through an existing body of literature that has been researched and presented to educate
and provide data on Latino male college students, particularly those such as FGLMs attending
California’s community colleges. These specific demographic trends underline the need to
examine further what community colleges in California can propose to further improve through
3
the implementation of strategies and ideas to enhance and increase the retention rates for Latino
male college students.
Latino male students attending institutions of higher education are confronted with
various professional, personal, and academic barriers that affect their ability to matriculate suc-
cessfully (Selwyn, 2008). In fact, in the United States there has been a correlation with the
increase in the Latino population from the years 1996 to 2018 as well as the Latino population
enrolled in higher education across the country (Sáenz et al., 2013). However, while Latinos are
America’s second largest ethnic group, Latino students are currently facing a range of academic
and personal challenges as they persist through their education and beyond. Therefore, from early
childhood through higher education, Latinos—particularly Latino male students—continue to be
underserved by college programs and resources specifically designed to assist these students in
gaining access and support on various college campuses.
A study by Bernstein et al. (2009) found that Latino male students tend not to use on-
campus academic resources (e.g., academic counseling, tutoring, peer support, social networking)
at the college. Studies such as the one by Kruse et al. (2015) asserted that for best practices
purposes, college practitioners should have explicit conversations on how to design or redesign
with “first-gen Latino male students in mind” (p. 2) to effectively support and academically assist
FGLMs to be better understood and successful. Because many FGLMs are disinclined to ask for
academic help when they need it or fail to speak up, such programs and/or resources could equip
these students with the necessary skills and confidence to face their fears and failures more con-
structively and effectively. Community colleges, with an increased enrollment of SOCs, such as
Latino male students, are recognizing that racial and income diversity is a missing element in
improving SOCs’ completion rates. Currently there is significant concern regarding racial
4
inequality across various community colleges because too many talented FGLMs do not earn a
college degree when most well-paid jobs require one. SOCs, particularly Latino male students,
are the workforce of tomorrow (Hagedorn et al., 2002); therefore, urban community colleges
must make it a priority to decrease the achievement gap every academic year until it no longer
exists. Hagedorn et al. (2002) asserted that traditional college students are becoming a compli-
cated subject to speak about due to the rapid diversification that is under way across various
community colleges and universities. Chang et al. (2013) contended that the definition of a
“traditional college student” (p. 244) has transitioned to an obsolete concept.
According to a 2017 study by the Center for American Progress study, high school
teachers felt that SOCs living below the poverty line of 43% were less likely than their White and
Asian peers to graduate from college. The dominant culture’s negative perceptions and expecta-
tions (e.g., institutional racism, White American schools, all-White staff and districts) are that
SOCs and their families do not value education and that “these Latinos are not working hard
enough to improve the circumstances in their lives” (Kruse et al., 2015, p. 326).
The evidence demonstrates that even once first-generation students enrolled, their access
to and chances of completing a degree put them at risk of falling behind or not finishing their
studies, compared to their traditional White counterparts who do not face the same challenges
(Constantine et al., 1997). The lack of success of FGLMs has garnered attention over the past 3
decades. Therefore, despite an increase among first-generation college SOCs, the number of
FGLMs completing AA degrees or short-term education career pathways or certification remain
low (Dynarski et al., 2015).
Why are FGLMs having a difficult time adjusting to college? Is it merely because they are
not mentally and academically prepared, or are there other unknown factors happening within the
5
community college setting that may impede their success? This study provides a summary of the
critical data concerning FGLMs in the educational pipeline and beyond.
Statement of the Problem
FGLMs are characterized as nontraditional students enrolled in 2-year community col-
leges. Nontraditional students are usually always first generation or older, employed full- and
part-time students with less experience in higher education and lacking confidence related to
completing their academic goals (Valadez, 1993). The research concentrates exclusively on first-
generation students, but there is less known about first-generation Latino male students (Valadez,
1993). First-generation SOCs usually encounter several similar hardships when deciding to attend
a college; however, these students start their college careers with different social, economic, and
educational backgrounds. Although most first-generation students might have some general
understanding of college, first-generation students, such as Latino males, might need more
encouragement and assurance (Bailey & Alfonso, 2005). First-generation SOCs typically tend to
break the cycle of intergenerational patterns within their immediate families related to finances,
low levels of education, cultural customs, and norms impacting their family dynamics, conse-
quently paving the way for others to observe and follow. Typically, in the Latin culture, it is not
uncommon for first- generation Latino students to come from families of low socioeconomic
status (SES; Bailey & Alfonso, 2005).
SOCs, particularly from those of low SES, are at a disadvantage when it comes to out-
comes and expectations from their educators. According to a study by the Center for American
Progress (2017), high school teachers felt that SOCs living below the poverty line were 43% less
likely than their White and Asian peers to graduate from college. The biased and negative percep-
tions and expectations from the dominant culture (consisting of White America and schools and
6
districts) are that SOCs and their families do not value education and that “these Latinos do not
work hard enough to improve their life circumstances” (Kruse et al., 2015, p. 326). Also, in the
American educational school system, SOCs’ perceived academic performance has less to do with
a lack of personal efforts and motivation and more to do with systemic structures of inequalities
and institutional racism that go unchecked. Many school personnel and administrators are lacking
the cultural competence across various American schools and institutions that deal with the
Latino populations in Latino communities (S. M. Morest, 2015).
The complexities and hardships of FGLMs in community colleges have not been thor-
oughly documented in any current and past studies. The present study provides an in-depth intro-
duction and analysis into the experiences of Latino male students who are first generation at two
community colleges and who are experiencing several academic barriers as they persist to
graduate and transfer to a 4-year college. For various reasons, Latino male students tend not to
finish their college education and earned their degrees. For example, according to Pivaral (2012),
Latino retention and training vary greatly from state to state. For instance, in Florida, by measur-
ing the academic disparity between Latino male adults and their White peers, the educational
difference is 14% for Latino male adults. Latino residents in Florida have at least a 4-year degree
and a graduate professional degree in comparison with other Latino-dominant states such as
California, Texas, New York, and the city of Chicago. However, Florida has a large Puerto Rican
and Cuban population, many of whom come from affluent or highly educated families. Roughly
34% of Puerto Ricans and approximately 46% of Cuban Americans have earned a 4-year degree.
By contrast, only 18% of Mexican immigrants from poor and uneducated regions in the country,
such as California, Texas, and Chicago. Also, Florida’s academic success with its Latino student
achievement and college graduation rates may have more to do with the specific types of Latinos
7
living in Florida (i.e., affluent families, higher values on education, higher income, social status,
etc.) than with how the state funds and supports Latino students financially or academically.
Institutions of higher education are responsible for revamping their educational practices, student
support centers, and resources and being more inclusive of FGLMs.
There are various reasons why Latino male students struggle to obtain a college degree in
the United States. One of the main factors is due to blaming SOCs who historically have been
scapegoats and tools for various school districts to clearly and purposely deflect the charges of
institutional, academic-corruption, and racism (Calabrese & Barton, 1995). As a result, for many
Latino male college students, their personal and economic disparities often stem from their low
SES, social inequality, and immigrant status correlated with their lack of knowledge of the U.S.
education system—all contributing to the educational gap. The existing literature of SOCs in
higher education focuses on SOCs’ everyday experiences at 4-year university settings; however,
minimum focus is applied to their success at community colleges (Tovar, 2015). Nevertheless,
2-year community colleges deserve much more support, funding, and recognition than they
currently receive as affordable, accessible, and skills-centered institutions, particularly for SOCs
and other first-generation students. As described by Tovar (2015), too many FGLMs either do not
graduate with their 2-year degree or manage to transfer to a 4-year institution to finish their
bachelor’s degree or whichever academic goal they established upon persisting in college. Thus,
community colleges are the gateways to American higher education for many SOCs such as
FGLMs.
Also, when students enroll at colleges across the United States their educational expe-
rience is one of the accumulated disadvantages. Latinos are living in low-income communities
and are disproportionately poor and live in areas where the schools are underperforming and are
8
not preparing children for the rigor of college courses and preparation. Also, first-generation
college students require customized academic mentoring, academic counseling, and guidance that
differ from traditional college students, whose parents and families have earned a college degree.
As they transition into adulthood, many Latinos are supporting their own families and do not
have the luxury to focus on their essential priorities such as schoolwork and studies. Latino
students, in general, are more likely to opt for trade, for-profit schools, and other unaccredited
institutions where the retention and graduation rates are significantly lower compared to those of
community colleges. Many are first-generation students and the first to take on a college journey
without any guidance or role models in the attempt to pursue a college degree (Linder et al.,
2015). FGLMs are typically the first among their families to take on the journey of a college
education (Villegas & Davis, 2007).
Therefore, considering that diversity populations in community colleges are increasing
year after year, the achievement gaps persist among different racial groups, particularly among
Latino male students. Subsequently, in light of the country’s current changing demographics,
SOCs—traditionally classified as minorities—are increasing more quickly than their Asian and
White counterparts. This demographic gap affects individuals and their families; it threatens the
country’s ability to thrive. Community colleges across the United States are grounded in equity,
and community college board members and leaders will not achieve equity until leaders identify
and actively address the inequities affecting both SOCs and FGLMs.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to identify and explore contributing factors and barriers that
SOCs, such as FGLMs, have encountered while persisting through two 2-year community
colleges. The important process of simply hearing Latino male students’ challenges, reflections,
9
and joys of their trail-blazing perspectives through storytelling allowed their individual success
stories to provide insights and understanding of the experiences of disadvantaged, marginalized
student populations (Brock et al., 2007).
These students are too often the subjects of research rather than being participants in
academic-based success stories where researchers would want to hear about their successes in
academia through storytelling. This study allowed those students to tell their individual stories
and share how gender roles and family pressures and expectations alone had an influence on their
educational experiences in college, along with other unique barriers that they encountered as they
were persisting to graduate. This study addressed an underrepresented population in community
college settings. Using critical race theory (CRT), this study focused on the unique barriers that
FGLMs encountered when attending institutions of higher education (Ramos-Sánchez & Nichols,
2007). As previously mentioned, “disparities in engagement, attainment, and enrollment consti-
tute holistically of what is known about Latino male students at community colleges exploring
and examining gendered-based questions necessary to align themselves with their role” (Butcher
et al., 2019, p. 27). For this study, the purpose was to understand how FGLMs confronted unique
barriers and challenges to become achievers at their community colleges. For this study, the
purpose was to understand how FGLMs confront unique barriers to become achievers at their
community colleges. Therefore, through this knowledge, colleges and universities should have a
clear understanding of how to effectively prepare their administrators to improve and increase the
retention and graduation rates among SOCs such as FGLMs.
Research Question
To frame the topic and to better understand how FGLMs comprehended the barriers they
have faced in California’s community colleges, the following question guided this study: “How
10
do FGLMs explain their decision to attend and the process of attending a 2-year community
college?”
This study explored a gap in the literature by analyzing experiences of FGLMs attending
two community colleges in southern California. Through storytelling, this qualitative study
explored ways that personal and academic barriers of FGLMs in community colleges were per-
ceived by the students themselves to have impacted their academic success.
Significance of the Study
This study was inspired by a previous qualitative study conducted by Sáenz et al. (2014)
wherein he researched urban Latino male students enrolled at various community colleges in
metropolitan cities within the state of Texas and explored the educational attainment gap and
male gender conflict as the framework that led his study. The research by Sáenz et al. (2014)
demonstrated the salience of using both gender identity and ethnicity in understanding how
masculinity conflicts existed within various experiences of these men as they navigated a 2-year
community college in urban cities within the state. However, he focused specifically on Latino
male students ranging in age, academic class standing, different generations, and whether they
were monolingual or bilingual to target and explore how masculinity constructs influenced Latino
males’ educational experiences.
The present study differed in that it applied these concepts toward 10 FGLMs students
attending two community colleges in southern California and were about to graduate from their
current community college and successfully transfer to a 4-year institution, in contrast to the
focus by Sáenz et al. 2014) on Latino male students from different geographical backgrounds
who were enrolled in several urban community colleges in the state of Texas, with the focus on
gender, conflict, and construct. The present study aimed to reveal how FGLMs navigated their
11
college experience by storytelling their experiences and explaining their perception of their
college struggles, needs, inclusion, and other trends that associated with students’ successes and
resiliency. Current data from various academic and student support centers across many com-
munity colleges in California could provide valuable data towards ongoing research. The
emphasis should be on system-impacted students such as SOCs to better understand how first-
generation Latino male students perceive their college experience, struggles, needs, inclusion and
other trends associated with students’ successes and resiliency.
Another reason for this study was to raise awareness about the urgency for community
colleges to focus on improving FGLMs’ college completion rates to improve graduation and
retention levels—particularly at community college settings, where a large percentage of these
groups of students lack a college degree. Considering that the degree of achievement is associated
with employment, the reduction and closure of the performance disparity within this student
population should have a long-term impact on poverty reduction and poverty alleviation.
For this study, the goal was to explore the unique barriers and challenges that 10 FGLMs
faced in adjusting to two community colleges in southern California. After reviewing the previ-
ous literature on FGLMs, it was clear that a study to individually explore and voice the first-hand
experiences of this student population, directly from the mouths of the students themselves,
would fill a gap, add to the limited, data and would be beneficial—possibly leading to further
examination of areas for improvement within community colleges. Minimal research exists to
document these students’ success stories on the unique experiences that first-generation Latinos
face as active students. As thousands of FGLMs become the first members of their family to start
and experience a college career, they have begun a challenging journey. They will face various
disparities such as academic and personal challenges that most traditional students (i.e., their
12
White and Asian counterparts) do not experience. This study focused on discussing the barriers
that emerged through participants’ storytelling and outlines outcomes and solutions to better
serve and support this student population and to construct research questions to aid in effectively
improve these students’ academic success.
The end results from this study should contribute to current literature focusing on similar
topics related to underrepresented group of students such as FGLMs with the anticipation to
expose the contributing factors that helped these group of students succeed at their community
college.
Limitations
Several limitations affected study:
1. This study was limited by its scope, the single interview with each participant, and the
small sample size. Factors contributing to the small sample size were the lack of previous
research studies on this specific population and topic, as well as conflicts arising from
cultural and personal biases and issues.
2. The researcher met with the participants only once. As a result, the participants may
have been reluctant to open up to me and to share intimate and detailed personal stories
with him.
3. The time constraints of this research made it difficult to conduct several interviews and
did not allow time for lengthy and detailed follow-up interviews with participants.
4. The study took place at only two community colleges: one in Los Angeles County,
California, and one in the city of Los Angeles. Considering the sample size of the partici-
pants at the two selected research sites, the findings cannot be generalized with respect to
13
FGLMs at other campuses within the Los Angeles Community Colleges District
(LACCD) or other colleges.
5. The 2-year community colleges at which the interviews were done were selected to
obtain variability on several student and college characteristics; no claim was made that
these colleges were typical of other colleges in their general category. Had this study been
conducted over a more extended period, the researcher would have had the opportunity to
sample more FGLMs across neighboring colleges within Los Angeles County.
Some SOCs and FGLMs were raised with generational domestic violence, child neglect,
single-parent households, and trust issues. Therefore, successful culturally sensitive and com-
petent academic therapy can help to increase the likelihood of SOCs’ academic and long-term
career performance, career development and self-efficacy, resilience, mental health, and progress
(Chadiha et al., 2014).
However, considering that the participants’ culture, values, and life experiences were of
importance to the study, the researcher made all of the students feel respected and validated while
interviewing them. It was essential that each participant felt comfortable and willing to share the
valuable and critical information needed to complete the interviews. Irrespective of their different
personality traits, cultural norms, and beliefs among the participants, the researcher built a wel-
coming and unbiased relationship that was crucial for the effectiveness and comfort of all par-
ticipants involved in this study. Because time was limited, gathering as much data was ideal. The
researcher-built trust by connecting, reporting, and conducting individual interviews with all
participants allowing all individual interviews to flow effectively.
14
Delimitations
For this study, there were 10 participants who self-identified as FGLMs—the primary
demographics represented for this study. All 10 participants were upperclassmen students; and
given the required age limitations for this study, the researcher explicitly focused on Latinos who
were 18 and older. Ideally, setting a minimum age requirement allowed upper-level (sophomore-
and junior-level) students to talk about their earlier college experiences in detail. It was felt that
these students might have had more expertise in addressing related academic obstacles and effec-
tive ways to use on-campus resources and programs specifically designed for student use.
For this study, all 10 participants were assumed to be enrolled at least half-time at a Cali-
fornia community college, particularly in Los Angeles County in southern California. The insti-
tutions had to have at least a 12% minority student population, an on-campus diversity resource
center, and over 30 student resources and drop-in centers.
Participants were enrolled at a community college in an urban city as undergraduate
students and shared many of the unique experiences that helped them persist to graduate. The
collection of data on this specific topic and area of focus will not reach outside of this particular
spectrum. All 10 participants were first generation and 18 years of age or older and were willing
to discuss relevant details with me.
Assumptions
Fryer et al. (2008) noted that “assumptions are so basic that, without them, the research
problem itself could not exist” (p. 65). This research was built on the assumption that all 10
respondents were participating honestly and voluntarily. They were assumed to have enough
academic and life experience and exposure to college life to complete individual surveys. They
were assumed to be completing their surveys independently, without any biased input from
15
another source of support. When participants completed the interviews, the further assumption
was made that they were able to answer truthfully, reflective of their motives and needs.
Operational Definitions
For the purpose of this study, the following terms are defined:
Community college: A publicly funded, 2-year higher education institution that offers
courses leading to an AA degree or other career pathways such as certifications or short-term
education and training programs (less than 1 year) .
Educational degree attainment: The number of years of school completed that led to
earning a degree or the highest educational level of education that an individual has successfully
completed, which is measured by the number of units or equivalent associated with higher
median earnings and higher employment rates.
First-generation student: An individual whose parent(s) and/or legal guardian(s) have not
attended any form of college education. The student is the first within the immediate family to
gain acceptance at an accredited college and/or university, including any 2-year community
college, with the goal to earn a degree.
Hispanics: Any individuals of Spanish descent originating from Spanish-speaking
countries from Mexico, Central America, South America (with the exception of Brazil), or the
Caribbean, inclusive of a culture with a historical affiliation or link to Spain. The term commonly
applies specifically to countries once colonized by Spain.
Latina: A female individual of any Latin American descent living in the United States,
whose ancestors came from any country where the language is Spanish, such as Central and
South America (except Brazil).
16
Latino: A male person of Latin American descent living in the United States, whose
ancestors came from any country where the language is Spanish, such as Central America and
South America (except Brazil).
Persistence: Continuing to endure and/or exist over a prolonged period without any
interruptions and successfully reenrolling from term to term.
Recruitment: The initial process by which an institution of higher education and/or post-
secondary education “move[s] a prospective student from initial contact through its campus
towards matriculation” (Hinton-Smith, 2012, p. 11).
Retention: The successful process of completing and earning a bachelor’s degree
(Blanchett et al., 2005).
Transfer: The path to an associate degree and/or certification/career and/or transfer to a
4-year university to earn an undergraduate degree.
Traditional college students: Those who enroll in any institution of higher education soon
after graduating from high school on a continuous basis with a full load of units initiating from
the fall through the spring semester to obtain an undergraduate degree, which traditionally takes
at least 4 to 5 years to complete. The ages of these students typically range from 17 to 24 years. In
the United States, these traditional college students are in some cases financially dependent on
their parents or guardians and typically make their undergraduate education a priority. They are
generally not married, have no children, and work at part-time positions on or off the campus.
Organization of the Study
This dissertation is organized into five chapters and focuses specifically on 10 FGLMs
who were attending two different community colleges. Chapter 1 has included an introduction to
the study and a general overview of how the findings from this study should contribute to the
17
current literature in the field of higher education. It also deals with barriers encountered by
FGLMs attending two different community colleges, emphasizing the theoretical perspectives
from past studies regarding academic and degree attainment of Latino male community college
students. Also included were the purpose of the study, the research question, limitations, delimi-
tations, assumptions, and definitions of terms used.
Chapter 2 includes a more comprehensive discussion of the literature on FGLM com-
munity college students and the important contributing factors linked to their college, unique
barriers, and learning experiences. The chapter focuses on the discussion of various aspects of
these community colleges and how these 2-year colleges provide SOCs—in particular, FGLMs
—with extra support to complete all of their pretransfer requirements, using both validation
theory (VT) and CRT as the conceptual lens for the identification of literature revolving around
specific issues such as equity and competency-based education.
Chapter 3 includes a full description of the critical methodology and a summary of the
research design techniques for the data collection to answer the research question for this study.
Chapter 4 systematically reflects on the unique experiences of all 10 participants through their
counterstorytelling, highlighting their significant experiences around academic and personal chal-
lenges and themes directly related to the research question. A summary of the data collected from
each participant is provided. Chapter 5 provides an analysis of counterstorytelling, a discussion of
findings, conclusions, implications, recommendations for higher education (specifically commu-
nity colleges), and considerations for future studies.
18
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Rigol (2003), the percentages of students age 18 and over without a high
school education statistically were higher for Latinos at 34% compared to other ethnic groups,
with lower percentages ranging from 7% for Caucasians to 19% for Alaska Native adults. In 2015
Tovar reported that the percentages of Hispanic adults age 21 and older with a 4-year degree
fluctuated from 10% for Central Americans to 54% for South Americans. The percentages ranged
from 12% for Asians ages 18 and older to 73% for Southeast Asians.
Latino college enrollment statistics show that more Latino students are going to college
across the United States; however, the bad news is that Latino students are still falling behind
their White and Asian counterparts (Vega et al . 2012), Latinos are one of the most likely ethnic
groups to pursue college degrees (Ross et al., 2010). For community colleges and other institu-
tions to understand the under-enrollment disparities of Latino male students, they will have to
look for more effective ways to support these students’ success. Community college leaders know
that they must take a comprehensive, logical, and strategic approach to support first-generation
Latinos’ success, persistence, and degree completion and that they must undertake the appropriate
research to justify their objectives.
When it comes to serving SOCs, the challenge can be complicated, especially if the
college leaders lack the fundamental analysis tools along with the competent staff to assist in
facilitating the right strategies to implement the right resources for student success. Current
research on SOCs, specifically FGLMs enrolled in colleges and universities across America, has
indicated that FGLMs have various assets, including being bicultural, bilingual, and resilient.
They have learned to adapt, balance, and shift between two dominant cultures (Kena et al., 2014).
FGLMs are typically bilingual and respectful toward authoritarian figures such as instructors,
19
parents, and peers, as their family and peers support and value these students' education and
persistence (Valdés, 1996). Much of what is known from the literature review regarding Latino
male students in college, as described in the deficit model of Gonzalez et al. (1995), precollege
dispositions (i.e., professional academic ethics that govern how an instructor acts with students)
hinder students’ probability of staying the course of college education completion (Nora et al.,
2011). As a result, there has been limited research conducted on the successes of Latino male
college students and what determining factors influenced them to persist in college education
(Torres, 2003). Community college leaders should design and revamp their current methods and
implement realistic retention strategies that make a progressive and measurable difference in
realizing the potential of all students, particularly FGLMs in community colleges in California.
For the goals of this study, a purposeful review across similar studies were conducted in
the focus disciplines: (a) community colleges’ current recruitment and retention rates and strate-
gies; (b) performances of FGLMs in community colleges; © FGLMs’ resilience associated with
participants being validated, which stimulated the participants’ mental motivation; and (d) the
efforts and collaboration between college counselors and CRT and VT applied to this population
to fulfill the study goals. Past studies were reviewed that used CRT and VT as a conceptual lens
to help to identify common problems within educational literature and to find the root cause of
why many colleges that lack a campus inclusiveness environment and a diverse student popula-
tion for SOCs. Therefore, both CRT and VT were the theoretical frameworks for this study, as
discussed in the next section. Although the majority of the study focused on FGLMs in general,
the review of literature focuses specifically on students’ lower educational level, retention,
attainment rates, and the community college achievement gap. Data have demonstrated that
FGLMs are the one group of students with lower graduation and attainment rates than any other
20
ethnic group in college. These individuals are currently underrepresented in pursuing higher edu-
cation across various racial and ethnic groups at various colleges and universities, compared with
their White counterparts in the same age group.
History and Context of Hispanics in American Higher Education
The 2018 U.S. Census reports that the Hispanic population was the largest minority group
in the nation, numbering a record 57.9 million, up 1.4 million, or approximately 19.1% of the
total population (Krieger, 2019). It was reported by Fry (2002) that by 2059, the U.S. Census
Bureau has predicted that the Latino population in American will increase predicting that 2 out of
every 6 individuals will be of Latino background. However, Black and Hispanic males are shown
to have the lowest percentage of pursuing a college degree. Studies show that SOCs, particularly
male students pursuing an undergraduate degree, were most likely among any demographic group
to drop out after their freshman year in college, thus making it clear that there is a gap in college
access for Black and Latino males in this country (Caldwell & Siwatu, 2003). In 1944, there were
significant governmental and federal changes and transitionings that occurred among U.S. depart-
mental offices when it came to higher education policies involving the GI Bill (Corral et al.,
2015). The article reports that the GI Bill benefits qualifying military veterans in paying for their
undergraduate and graduate schools and technical-training programs. Since 1944, the bill has
covered any qualifying veterans and their family members in obtaining funding to cover either the
full or partial costs for school or training (MacDonald et al., 2007). The GI Bill not only im-
proved over some time but also expanded access and affordability for graduates, thereby allowing
the government to extend access across American institutions by establishing new paths toward
funding students’ college education (Thelin & Gasman, 2003). The bill provides access to
21
veterans of color, first-generation, low-income, and at-risk veterans and their families (Jackson,
2003).
The current government G.I. Bill has increased access to thousands of Latinos across the
country, although the bill was designed to benefit mostly their white counterparts (Jackson,
2003). In the year 1960, the party El Movimiento (The Movement), which is known as the pro-
gressive Chicano
1
movement, focuses on an array of complex social problems, specifically
targeting public education (Solórzano et al., 2002). The Chicano movement has improved edu-
cational resources, establishing opportunities, access, and a voice for Latino students in American
institutions. Regardless of the progress of El Movimiento, through endless embargoes, strikes,
and demonstrations, U.S. public education structures have systematically upheld its Eurocentric
foundation that was not inclusive of SOCs (Cano et al., 2016). According to Rendón (2000),
institutions of higher education tailored their practices toward traditional students who came from
privilege—White middle- and upper-class backgrounds—and were pursuing higher education as
expected and typical. Current student resources, curricula, and activities have not transitioned
from their traditional White student bodies. However, current student bodies reflect “similar
differentiations in cultural background, social class, statuses, and sexual orientations” (Rendón,
2002, p. 652). Considering the relevancy of today’s higher education with a colonialism blueprint
and education, Latino college students unfortunately have to blindly navigate a system that does
not fully support and understand their population and biopsychosocial needs. Tobarra et al.
(2014) argued that “access to a public quality higher education does not guarantee equal treatment
and opportunity for all” (p. 54).
1
The adjective Chicano is a term relating to Mexican Americans or their culture.
22
Recent studies found that Latino male students were significantly behind their Latina
counterparts as far as college degree achievement and attainment were concerned and that Latino
male students had a lower level of higher education or degree completion compared to Caucasian
males (Glaser, 2012). Current studies focusing on Latino male students in higher education tend
to focus on urban immigrant stereotypes, such as Latino men being less academically oriented
than their White and Asian counterparts, instead of reflecting on the positive efforts that these
groups of students invest while trying to navigate and persist in college without being acknowl-
edged or feeling validated by their college efforts and experiences. The process begins with a
professor who expects SOCs to persist academically. Therefore, the professor’s beliefs can shape
the professor’s ideology, perception, and behavior, such as what class materials to assign, body
language, and the quality of time that the professor spends with each student. As a result, SOCs
respond to these high expectations by internalizing them (as validating)—a situation that boosts
their academic hopes and performance (confidence). Gofen (2009) reported that percentage rates
about male college SOCs (Hispanic and Black) are “infinite pages of stereotypes, negative and
unfair statistics and research on these two groups of students (p. 108).
Sáenz and Ponjuan (2011) found undergraduate Latino students to be significantly less
likely than Caucasian students to
• enroll in an institution of higher education,
• attend a selective college such as an Ivy League or other top university,
• enroll in college at more than full-time status, and
• finish their undergraduate studies. (p. 5)
Several studies in the field of education had examined the various factors that contributed
to the success of FGLMs in college, specifically focusing on how self-efficacy has evolved over
the years when students were confronted with academic and personal barriers. Prevalent subjects
such as support, validation, and resiliency were common keywords founded on current literature
23
that contributed to the thriving success among FGLMs during their college studies. In one study
by Chiang et al. (2004) that examined 15 high schools within the city of Los Angeles found that
fathers’ endurance and level of education, regular use of bilingualism in the home, and students’
emotional and financial support for their family had the strongest correlation with students’
academic performance. It should also be noted that having a strong support system in place,
including a family support system, ensures growth in areas where students struggle the most and
have the strongest associations with their academic achievements.
Woolley (2009) suggested that integration in an institutional setting plays a key role
among first-generation students’ success, adding that the integration and interconnections con-
sisting of the classroom, the home, and the community should be further researched and explored.
Those elements are correlated with students’ success, and current research lacks details regarding
how these academic factors further affect student retention and success; the latter should be
examined more thoroughly.
In a parallel study that aimed to explore factual narratives of 15 highly achieving Latinas
in college who encountered academic challenges and barriers that affected their opportunities to
access a selected institution of their choice, Woolley (2009) identified patterns such as family,
emotional support, and the internal and external social environments combined to aid in these
students’ persistence. Regarding academic preparation and engagement, Suarez-Orozco and Páez
(2002) identified a sense of dedication, accountability, accomplishment, and integrity as success-
ful elements.
Familial factors (i.e., supportive family), as noted by Smolenski et al. (2009), contribute
toward students’ mental motivation. Close friendships also help, as well as environmental ele-
ments such as community mental health resources, on-campus student health centers, and accessi-
24
bility to the institution’s administrators. However, various studies have indicated that
first-generation students compared to traditional students typically receive less emotional and
economic support and validation from their parents and friends despite the harsh sacrifices that
their families endure in order to send their students to college (Smolenski et al., 2009). It is
imperative to consider culture, academic resiliency, assimilation issues, academic struggles, and
validation as contributing factors that can assist FGLMs to increase their college retention rate
consistently until they graduate. If these students were to encounter life crises or barriers (e.g.,
academical, personal, or financial), with the right support system in place, these students could
manage to cope and graduate on time despite their circumstances (Smolenski et al., 2019).
Latino Students at Community Colleges
According to Dixson and Rousseau (2005), there is a belief that community colleges
(urban or suburban) are comprised of students who are driven by talent and ambition and who
represent future agents of social change and policy. In the late 1800s to early 1900s, researchers
have reported that in the late 1800s to early 1900s, the average citizen in the nation had an
elementary-level education. Hence, many students attend community colleges to develop their
social and ability skills to remain competitive in today’s job market. In 1892 the president of the
University of Illinois, William Harper, founded a co-division institution at the college of what is
now known as a 2-year community college, which offered a general education leading to an AA
degree (Dixson & Rousseau 2005). In 1901, the first community college, Juliet Junior College,
was established in the city of Chicago, and was the first 2-year college in America. This junior
college was established to provide instruction fundamental and technical programs leading to
successful careers. The aim was to increase enrollment for low-SES, poor Whites and working-
class individuals. It was hoped that this type of junior college would attract and encourage more
25
students to enroll and gain valuable, technical, and fundamental skills to lead to a trade (Dixson
& Rousseau, 2005).
Subsequently, community colleges became an institution where students could exchange
their fees for a 2-year higher education and obtain an AA degree Today, community colleges
across the country serve underprivileged, disadvantaged students who are trying to save money,
to figure out what career paths to approach, and/or to study hard and raised their academic grade
point averages (GPAs) so that they can apply to selective institutions (Dixon & Rousseau, 2005).
One study from the North American Commission for Community and Junior Colleges noted that
SOCs comprised just 31.3% of the undergraduate student population in 2015, increasing to
46.5% in 2016. Community colleges usually have had high enrollment numbers, mostly from
SOCs coming from low-SES environments, from broken or dysfunctional families residing in the
inner cities where the head of household is a single mother or a male or female recently released
from prison.
In the fall of the 2016, community colleges enrolled approximately 14.6 million students
at 2,200 colleges across the nation. Of the 14.6 million, 52% were White, 22% were of Latino
descent, 16% identified as African American, 7% identified as Asian-Pacific Islander, while the
other 8% identified as “other” ethnicities (NACCJC, 2016). After revisiting the literature on His-
panics in higher education, Latino college students, and community colleges within urban set-
tings, study findings and data of Dixson and Rousseau (2005) suggested that SOCs who were first
generation faced greater social, family, and academic inequalities than their White counterparts.
One study conducted by the L. A. Bell (2019) during the period (2015–2018) on first- generation
college students found that these groups of students start college being economically and aca-
demically disadvantaged due to not receiving years of academic preparation from their parents,
26
family, and/or peers. These students were probably less prepared emotionally, psychologically,
and socially to establish meaningful relationships for the rigors of institutions of higher educa-
tion. Therefore, this could be one factor as to why only 32% of first-generation SOCs graduate
within or around 4 years, according to the (L. A. Bell, 2019). The NACCJC (2016) study reported
that Latino students with parents who did not have a college education reported struggling the
most in receiving academic and emotional support due to their parents not being able to relate to
and understand the problems that many students face in this setting. For example, in a study con-
ducted by Dixson and Rousseau (2005), results implied that in terms of college completion rates,
first-generation college students were earning credentials at a much lower rate than their White
and Asian counterparts students, considering that for many first- generation students, their first
point of contact is a 2-year college where access and opportunities are accessible to study for an
AA degree or career pathways such as short-term education and training programs (less than 1
year) for high-demand occupations.
Recent studies found that Latino male students are significantly behind their Latinas’
counterparts as far as college degree achievement and attainment, and Latino male students have
a lower higher education or degree completion when compared to Caucasian males (Glaser,
2012). Besides, current studies focusing on Latino male students in higher education tend to focus
on “urban-immigrant stereotypes” such as Latino men being less academically oriented than their
White and Asian counterparts, instead of reflecting on the positive efforts these groups of stu-
dents invest trying to navigate and persist in college without being acknowledge, or by feeling
validated by their college efforts and experiences. The process begins with a professor who
expects (SOCs) to persist academically. Therefore, the professor’s belief can shape the profes-
sor’s ideology, perception, and behavior, such as what class materials to assign, body language,
27
and the quality of time the professor spend with each student. As a result, students of color
respond to these high expectations by internalizing them (as validating), which boosts their
academic hopes and performance (confidence). Gofen (2009), reported that percentage rates
about male college students of color (Brown and Black) are infinite pages of stereotypes, negative
and unfair statistics and research on these two groups of students (p. 6).
One important reason for this dissertation was primarily to raise awareness of the need for
community colleges to concentrate on improving FGLMs college completion levels to increase
graduation and retention among SOC. Particularly at community college settings, where a large
percentage of these groups of students lack a college degree. Considering that the degree of
achievement is associated with employment, the reduction and closure of the performance
disparity within these student’s population were expected to have a long-term impact on poverty
reduction and poverty alleviation.
First-Generation College Students
In the United States, colleges and universities have considered a first-generation college
student to be any student whose immediate family or parent(s)/legal guardian(s) have not
received
any college education or completed a bachelor’s degree (Hinton-Smith, 2012). Therefore, being a
first-generation college student who is earning a college degree is a very proud accomplishment.
In the United States, roughly 34% of undergraduates have been identified as first-generation
students and first in their immediate families to enroll in a college or university for the
2018–2019 academic year (Davis, 2019).
Currently, there are limited data on the statistics that have calculated the exact percent-
ages of FGLMs enrolled across college campuses. The current longitudinal studies on first-
28
generation students have failed to include how FGLM students succeed in college. Research by
Lewis et al. (2000) showed that first-generation college students were conscious of their long-
term ability to develop social capital, wealth , and social networking while interacting and
negotiating with college peers. Findings from a 2016–2018 survey from undergraduate students
enrolled between January 2015 and August 2017 suggested that around 37% of those students
enrolled at community colleges identified as being the first among their families to attend college
(Lisman, 2001). A similar study by Pike and Kuh (2006) found that in direct comparison with
first- generation students and their traditional counterparts, different levels of inequality between
educational outcomes were exposed. This section has addresses key disparities in history, along
with resilience and other factors, that may lead to recognizing FGLMs’ contributory factors that
have to do with historical inequalities and strengths, students’ self-perceptions, resilience, and
other factors that can contribute to the acceptance of FGLMs. There is a grave need, disparity,
and deficit that give voice to the unique experiences of FGLMs enrolled in community colleges
and how they feel that their education and unique experience has influenced their education
format.
Barriers for Latino Students
To better serve and understand first-generation college students’ personal and academic
needs, it is crucial for institutions first to understand the complicated life, academic challenges,
and the central barriers that this group of students face as they persist to succeed and graduate
from college. The reality among American colleges is that SOCs, such as FGLMs, have fallen
significantly behind their White, Asian, and female Latina counterparts in terms of college
access, resources, and completion. This situation weakens the nation’s higher education institu-
tions’ ability to integrate and utilize their significant human capital to improve and ensure the
29
success of the diverse communities and families across the country. According to Bernal (2002),
many first-generation SOCs have to overcome several barriers (e.g., economic, personal, mental
health, physical health, financial, etc.) while enrolled in college.
In addition to the barriers that lead to attending college, SOCs are obligated to process
and navigate negative invalidations ranging from lack of recognition from unsupportive staff,
faculty and administrators, invalidations that are depicted as cultural insensitivity, to being
viewed as an unimportant and/or invisible student body of the college campus (Rendón, 2012).
Another contributing structural issue affecting FGLMs in college is the lack of Latino and/or
male role models in the teaching workforce in academia. Aragon and Johnson (2008) argued that
college instructors of color are essential because they may be better “culturally equipped” than
instructors from other backgrounds to meet and foster the learning and mentoring experiences
and needs of an increasing portion of the college student population.
Latina/os Pursuing College
According to the Pew Research Center, in 2018, there was a 26% increase in Latino
student enrollment across American institutions. Various institutions have made minimum
progress on closing the college degree attainment gaps among SOCs, particularly among Latino
students. Latinos, ranging in age from 17 to 25, comprise 1.7 million of the 13.6 million
college-aged students in America (Covarrubias et al., 2015). These young groups of people are
helping the country to meet the education goals for the 21st century. According to Gofen (2009),
previous literature on Latino college students has suggested that “cognitive skills and/or cultural
beliefs and values [were] determent factors for these student groups who ‘lagged’ behind their
White counterparts across the college pipeline” (p. 149). Across America, very little progress has
been made in closing the college degree attainment gaps among SOCs, especially among Latino
30
male students, thereby hindering the goal of raising the overall number of SOCs with college
degrees. New data on recipients of college degrees has illustrated SOCs’ inequalities in terms of
college enrollment, completion, and graduation (Opp, 2002). In the 21st century, and at various
PWIs, the current ethnic composition of adjunct staff and faculty does not reflect the ethnic
diversity of the student body population. Iacovino and James (2016) found that having culturally
inclusive support programming in conjunction with a diverse faculty influences the retention rates
of underrepresented SOCs, particularly Latino college students.
Although SOC enrollment trends have increased and transitioned across various insti-
tutions, FGLMs specifically are more likely to enroll at 2-year colleges (Gandara et al., 2012).
The statistics on the types of careers that college SOCs pursue because the data have demon-
strated that SOCs are swayed into technical professions or career pathways such as short-term
education and training programs (less than 1 year) in high-demand occupations. Subsequently,
the transferring rate into a 4-year college remains significantly low, as 2-year colleges focus on
“inner classroom experiences” (Bragg et al., 2006, p. 7) instead of supporting these students to
succeed and go beyond a 2-year education. Studies based on graduation rate comparisons
between community colleges and 4-year universities indicated that students who enroll at a 4-year
university graduate at a higher rate than students who begin their college studies at community
colleges (Hrabowski & Sanders, 2015). Many academic researchers have known for some time
that most SOCs, particularly Latino male students attending community colleges and planning to
transfer to a 4-year university, rarely transfer due to lack of preparedness or academic inadequacy
(Suarez- Orozco & Páez, 2002). It is a fact that earning a college degree is challenging, perhaps
due to worrying that the courses will be complex and too difficult for SOCs who are transferring
31
from a 2-year community college, because they lack the “interpersonal” and academic support
once they transfer to the 4-year university. Gandara and Contreras (2009) explained that
out of the 150 Latino (female and male) students at a selected (unknown) elementary
school site, 60 failed out of high school, and 90 culminated from high school. Around 41,
or 66 percent, continued onto a post-secondary education or trade education following
high school. Of those 41, approximately 32, or 72 percent, started a college career at a
community college, and around 14, or 45 percent, will transfer to a four-year university.
Of those 30 at the two-year college, only four will successfully transfer to a four-year
institution. Then, of those 16 students enrolled at the four-year institution and the three
who transferred, only 12 will successfully earn a bachelor’s degree. Finally, only six
students at the four-year institution will pursue a graduate degree (Master’s degree), and
less than two will received a doctorate/Ph.D. (p. 6)
Robles (2009) reported that African Americans and Latino high school students face an
array of academic and emotional challenges when transitioning to the 12th grade. Robles noted
that many Latino students show a strong desire to attend a college or a university, but do not
pursue the vision and excitement due to some unique factors, such as poverty, which are “strictly
related to inequalities in educational achievement and enrolling in college with minimal resources
and guidance” (p. 6).
Although SOCs such as African Americans and Latino high school graduates are as likely
as their White counterparts to attend a 4-year university, differences in the completion rate are
significant among those who attend a college (McWhirter et al., 2007). Many SOCs, such as
first-generation Latino students who decide to attend college after graduating from high school,
usually start their 1st semester facing various limitations. Some of the limitations have been
language barriers, and these students may be placed in remedial classes to ensure that they are
prepared sufficiently to move into advanced courses as they navigate the required courses for
their major. SOCs would first go through the college placement center and take a test to deter-
mine whether they would need developmental courses designed to enhance their academic,
32
cognitive, and critical thinking skills to the same degree before embarking on more challenging
core classes (The Sullivan Commission, 2004).
DeCuir-Gunby (2007) found that placement exams among California’s community
colleges were aligned with biases and may have been underestimating these students’ ability to do
well, specifically SOCs who could more than likely succeed in more rigorous college courses. An
additional limitation is that various colleges continue to face standardized placement exams that
put students in unnecessary remedial courses; thus, SOCs may be assigned to remedial classes
instead of to transferrable courses that prepare them for a 4-year education. Research shows that
when it comes to selecting colleges and universities among SOCs, Latino college students who
were noted to be “scholars” and “brilliant” were academically qualified and willing to apply to
highly selective institutions, and/or even Ivy League schools but did not apply because they
“settled for less” (V. S. Morest & Jenkins, 2007, p. 3) by passing on these admission opportuni-
ties instead of applying to less competitive or less prestigious institutions and subsequently wind
up at community colleges.
Generally, more SOCs, such as Latino college students, worry primarily about the cost of
attendance. These students tend to be first-generation students, as opposed to their White counter-
parts who are probably suitable to finance their college education (Homan, 1994). Latino students
are not usually encouraged or persuaded to attend a 4-year university by their high school faculty
(i.e., teachers, counselors) or their peers and are typically not provided with adequate information.
Nationally, in inner-city high schools, the student-to-counselor ratio is over 501:1, subsequently
leaving many students with as little as 30 minutes a year to work with a college academic advisor.
There is a lack of encouragement and resources for high-needs students to register for college,
apply for best-fit schools and financial assistance, and enroll and graduate. However, many of
33
these Latino students come from impoverished socioeconomic backgrounds and families who
most likely cannot finance a college education or pay for basic college applications and processes
for their students (Pivaral, 2012).
Economics of the Family
For many Latino college students, the role of family and communities was an asset to
these individuals who wanted to become the first to pursue a college degree within their families
and to give back to their communities.
As the ties to the family and the community had an influence towards their educational
goals and achievements, these students placed values on persistence based on their fami-
lies’ upbringing, values, and/or their parents’ social and level of education that their
families instilled in them during their childhood. (Pivaral, 2012, p. 41)
Previously it has been researched that Latino students with highly educated and well-
connected parents who are well-informed about the college system and process are more than
likely to motivate and encouraged their students to graduate and pursue a college career (W. L.
Smith & Zhang, 2009). SOCs with parents holding a graduate degree such as a master’s or
doctorate) have better navigated the college system; “they are more than capable of directing and
understanding the scholastic system enough to assure resources for their students” (Pivaral, 2012,
p. 42). SOCs, such as Latino college students, are more likely statistically speaking to attend
institutions where most of their peers are either impoverished or come from low-income back-
grounds, compared to the social status of their White and Asian counterparts. Researchers have
found that SOCs are more likely to have experienced deprivations and poverty while in college,
based on federal college guidelines (Calderone et al., 2009). “A parent’s high level of education
is essential as it ties to social status, privilege, class, cultural capital that lead to access, power,
and authority, and cultural capital that were built with time” (Bruton & Robles-Piña, 2009, p. 46).
34
SOCs, such as Latino college students who enroll in an institution, tend to face barriers and
challenges if they were the first to seek a college career in their immediate family (Solórzano &
Bernal, 2001). According to a study by Strayhorn (2010), an overwhelming majority of college
enrollees were first-generation and second-generation Latino students. J. C. Hernandez’s (2000)
study revealed that for the academic year of 2017-2018, 57% of the overall undergraduates in the
United States were of first-generation college students (neither parent-reported holders of bache-
lor’s degree), and 61% of these students were also the first among their siblings (no matter the
order or range) to attend college. Overall, first-generation Latino students are mostly always
holistically affected by economic downfalls, affecting the students emotionally, and educational
support and well-being because economic disadvantages usually become educational disadvan-
tages for SOC.
Latino Persistence and Support Systems
According to Lewis et al. (2000), “color students, regardless of their social and economic
class, and status engaged in any academic resources and support at their college, had a better
social engagement and networking experience impacting their ability to succeed and achieving
their ultimate goal in the long run” (p. 76). Lewis et al. also found that college students who were
actively involved in on-campus activities and who took advantage of the resources at their
campus were classified as “highly potential graduates” (p. 76). Those students continued to be
involved in community and social organizations even after graduating. Robles-Lopez (2017)
reported that students who were active and involved succeeded within their professions because
they started college with clear goals and expectations, maintained a sense of connectedness
through networking with their peers at college, and established a social and empowering foun-
dation that fostered their active involvement within organizations such as fraternity and sororities
35
and/or faith-based organizations (Fonseca et al., 2013). Fonseca et al. (2013) noted that students
who participated in out-of-the-classroom activities were typically students who joined a student
organization such as Greek life (i.e., a community of students broken down into fraternities for
men and sororities for women), attended visiting speakers’ talks on specific topics, and/or par-
ticipated in alliance services such as lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer (LGBTQ), peer
mentoring programs, and department events in major or research areas. Many of these student
organizations involve outreach, student mentoring, and participation in programs that foster
students’ academic progress and development—thus allowing students to grow and reflect on
their future goals and dreams.
Mentoring
In an article by Hubain et al. (2016), the researchers stated that students who do not par-
ticipate in any social activities outside of the classroom environment are less likely to fully under-
stand the college climate, such as the students’ resources, culture, and other sources that could
perhaps enable their growth. They will end up “missioned out” as students. Radin and Hawley
(2013) stated that on-campus organizations that were established for student success are promi-
nent in developing and enabling relationships for SOCs to influence their academic success and
persistence in college positively. Mentoring college students has the ability to effect the immedi-
ate goals of the school, provide guidance when they feel academically challenged and help
conceptualize their personal life trajectories (Radin & Hawley, 2013). Rodriguez et al. (2000)
highlighted that SOCs had a higher chance to persist academically, personally, and socially when
they were connected with someone from the same ethnicity and when they had been mentored by
someone who could connect and/or relate to their needs until the SOCs reached their academic
goals. Prep schools and institutions of higher education across the country must fundamentally
36
collaborate strategically to bridge the SOC college enrollment gap in the SOC pipeline to college
and provide “smart” partnerships connections with mentors to better transition SOCs to the
academic lifestyle and expectations (Torres, 2003). Research has revealed that mentoring SOCs
was a key factor when establishing support and respecting SOCs’ cultural norms and beliefs,
because mentoring builds trust, confidence, and encouragement (Villarreal & García, 2016). As
far as engagement is concerned, it was noted that mentoring was also perceived to facilitate and
foster SOCs’ comfort and growth as students because engagement taps into SOCs’ familial
values within the school environment and fosters relationships with faculty members who can
impact SOCs’ lives. Villarreal and Garcia (2016) found that having a faculty mentor, specifically
a faculty mentor of color who at the core understands SOCs’ overall life challenges and the
importance of getting a college education, doubles the odds of SOCs being engaged profession-
ally and thriving in life.
Family Support
Regardless of other similar cultural differences and similarities, Latino families tend to
offer their students substantial support so that they can feel respected emotionally. “The family
and family orientation are basic elements of the family—social support and simple reassurance
and love” (Murphy & Murphy, 2018, p. 12). Despite life challenges, SOCs’ families have been
very supportive of their students’ sustainability, assuring that their students persist and remain in
college. In one study by Murphy and Murphy (2018) noted being mindful that to SOCs, particu-
larly Latino college students, “family, familismo, respect, and the value-orientation, are major
points of SOC identity and self-pride” (p. 9). Murphy and Murphy described that familismo
ensures SOCs’ comfort zone by providing Latino college students with an interconnection to their
college, especially if the campus environment fosters a sense of community by having a Latino
37
Resources Center type of drop-in center where SOCs can “feel at home” (p. 14) among other
Latinos. The researchers highlighted that mothers provided an emotional and encouraging mental
state when SOCs felt mentally depressed or overwhelmed. This type of support system fostered
and enabled encouragement for students throughout their studies (Musoba et al., 2013). In one
study by Jacob and Stringer (2018), Latino families were shown to have an influence and an
important role in deciding, guiding, and empowering their students’ college persistence both
directly and indirectly. Therefore, SOCs were more than likely to overperform if they had family
and/or family members who understood and valued education at its core. In terms of accountabil-
ity, the concept of supportive parents for successful college students is significant within Latino
families. The transition from high school to a university is a significant milestone that marks the
last movement of students into independence.
Nonetheless, neither student nor parent should deal with the transition alone. Latino
families who were consistently supportive and held their students accountable when they slacked
off were found to have a positive correlation between influence, consistency, attitudes, and
support toward postsecondary endeavors that contributed to students’ long-term success (Howard
et al., 2016). In a study by Howard et al. (2016), the authors focused on a “family and college
partnership” (p. 153) that helped to foster the success for Latino students by merely engaging
families and communities, as part of an intervention to strengthen and promote learning for SOCs
to improve their educational outcomes from an emotional viewpoint. Colleges can further imple-
ment interventions that can be developed to link Hispanic parents and communities to the
colleges that educate their students. The study by Howard et al. (2016) revealed that colleges with
competent organizations and resources consisting of social workers, professor advocates, coun-
selors, and other supporting staff and programs “to ensure that students who are assisted and
38
guided during peak times throughout the semester” (p. 7) to increase their performance. Howard
et al. (2016) emphasized that predominantly White institutions (PWIs) might not value or foster
these critical resources that mean so much to community colleges or Hispanic-serving institu-
tions.
Research on Latino Males
With respect to higher education student diversity in the 21st century, the statistical rep-
resentation of Latino male students enrolled in college is alarming and underresearched among
undergraduate SOCs across the country. B. Sánchez et al. (2006) reported that the dropout rate
among Latino males was more prevalent within the K-12 educational level as they tended to join
the workforce and earn less pay by working “dead-end jobs” (p. 51) than to sacrifice for a few
years by enrolling in college and earning a degree.
Various studies on men of color in college revealed that SOCs, particularly Black and
Hispanic males, had higher incarceration rates than enrollment rates. One survey by Wang (2012)
showed that there were more Black and Hispanic men in jail than in college during the years 2012
to 2017. Even former U.S. President Barack Obama talked about this statistic at a 2007 candidate
forum sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Color People’s (NAACP)
Candidate Forum in 2007 and claimed that this social inequality has had a direct impact on
college enrollment for males across the country (Berg, 2007).
According to Klevens (2007), enrollment of Latino male college students was 11%
among colleges in the southwestern region of the United States, compared to 40% at colleges in
the east coast region. In the American college pipeline, enrollment rates for Latino male students
have decreased, and scholars ask: “What’s happened to Latino male students that have not reg-
istered in colleges across the country” (p. 117)? “Current statistics and literature on Latino male
39
college students tend to contain a plethora of negative and/or stereotypes or deficiency-focused,
behavior-based research articles revolving around issues of violence” (S. M. Sanchez, 2011, p.
48) and other negative relevant factors impacting the persistence and efforts of Latino males in
college.
Research on higher education that focuses on Latino male college students has concen-
trated on the negative stereotypes, behaviors, educational disparities, and challenges that rein-
force the patterns and cycles of institutional racism. That has always led to instructors’ ineffective
and inappropriate interventions that only worsen and hurt these students’ self-image and self-
confidence in a college setting. For instance, one example of institutional racism in academia is
when literature on Hispanic male students, in comparison to their White counterparts, tends to
label or misdiagnose them with learning disabilities or as problematic. Latino male students have
also intrusively been labeled as “more likely [than White students] to get suspended” (Iacovino &
James, 2016, p. 77) students from school.
Latino male students are overly distracted in the classroom setting. They get excessively
diagnosed with “ADHD, and other defiant disorders” (S. M. Sanchez, 2011, p. 27) at higher rates
than average when compared to White male students statistically. On the other hand, data show
that the White male student counterparts were also more than likely to be labeled as gifted and to
be placed in advanced placement (AP) or other talented academic programs while in school (p.
14). Due to the stereotypical labels that stem from being placed in gifted courses, Latino male
students often bypass or refuse being enrolled in AP courses to avoid being perceived by their
machista Latino peers as “White-washed” and/or as “trying to be White” to assimilate as they see
it fit within their “machismo gender role” that comfortably fits the culture for their own satisfac-
tion (p. 14). Santos (2004) reported that Latino male students obtained lower academic grades
40
and underperformed on standardized exams compared to Latina students and non-Hispanic White
males in the comparison study.
According to Inkelas et al. (2007), pre-K (e.g., Head Start) to 12th-grade academic
preparation, along with outside academic tutoring and support, leads to positive and significant
gains in advanced vocabulary development and knowledge, and receptivity toward bilingual
language skills during the preschool period. These gains apply particularly to non-English-
speaking children with low achievement levels, such as disadvantaged SOCs. Research shows
that K-12 academic preparation that began with a Head Start program, consisting of outside
academic support and other athletic involvement activities, significantly determines Latinos’
persistence in a healthy upbringing. Subsequently, according to a 2011 article by Watt et al.,
almost any type of student involvement from elementary through high school positively affects
students’ learning, outcomes, and development. Social extracurricular activities outside of
academic support provide a setting to become involved and to interact with other like-minded
students, thereby leading to increased healthy socialization, learning, and enhanced development
as a tradeoff. F. Sullivan and Godsay (2014) explained that SOCs, such as Latino male students,
who are exposed to discussions involving professions, careers, colleges and universities, future
jobs, and so forth from an early age will likely better perceive their own expectations about their
outcomes and college and holistically internalize them (mentally, emotionally, economically) to
prepare for the demands of a college. Thus, this lifestyle will allow the “students to cope with life
challenges while earning or maintaining good academic grades and being involved in social
organizations for networking purposes” (p. 6).
As previously mentioned, when dealing with Latino male students, it will always be
useful to consider the students’ family ties, cultural beliefs and value system, and gender roles
41
and how they manifest and/or play out on an individual level (Padilla & Chávez, 1995). Through
cultural gender expectations and influences, “Latino men are taught to “establish their position
within a hierarchy” (Padilla, & Chávez, 1995, p. 3). Regarding Latino family expectations, Latino
families are generally influenced by gender expectations. In many Latino families, the adult male
children are expected to act as the protector or the provider, with the hope that they can carry the
torch and contribute toward their families’ expenses and put their family’s needs above their own,
ultimately making their families feel protected (Sáenz & Ponjuan, 2011).
In Hispanic culture, gender roles play a vital role in families. Gender roles typically are
ingrained in children from a very young age. Hispanic culture consists of values, norms, and
morals concerning everyday cultural practices. Hispanics places an essential value on the family
by praising support, gender roles, and encouragement throughout the continuum of life. However,
the prominence of the family and culture can have negative unhealthy and toxic aspects at times
(good or bad), often forcing or obligating Latino male students to contribute toward the monthly
expenses, including household goods, food, utility bills, and other costs, and financially also
supporting their partners if the student is married (Inman & Mayes, 1999). Although family
(familismo) expectations are considered a good thing, depending on the family’s values and
beliefs, most families tend to expect the males to work, not knowing how that can complicate
students’ educational goals. Working can strain students’ support systems, causing them to feel
stressed and overwhelmed and potentially putting their education goals at risk. Current research
shows that SOCs, particularly Latino male students, are working more and juggling a multitude
of roles, thereby creating tension with respect to their mental health, with the pressure leading to
anxiety and lowering graduation rates. According Ashlee et al. (2017), nearly 3 out of 10 (11%)
full-time, low-income, first-generation students worked at one or two part-time jobs or worked
42
longer hours than their high-income counterparts in 4-year universities while enrolled full time
each semester. Nowadays, working and attending college are vital for many community college
students, particularly SOCs; therefore, it is essential to understand how full- or part-time employ-
ment affects the persistence, maturity, and learning experience of college students.
Theoretical Frameworks
Critical Race Theory
The first theoretical framework to be explored is CRT (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). For a
few decades, educational scholars and researchers have used CRT as the cultural lens in higher
education to better understand its impact and existence in schooling at all academic levels. An
evolved and interdisciplinary theory that began in the field of law, CRT “decolonizes” and decon-
structs the apparent neutrality of organized social institutions on the history and progress to
continue the prevalence of racial inequalities and oppression among academic institutions and
major private and public organizations and beyond (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). The CRT
researchers uncovered and challenged the dominant discourses of underprivilege and
disadvantages faced by SOCs, including color blindness, meritocracy, and racial neutrality,
among other challenges. Drawing from a feminist studies framework and other intersectionality
theories, CRT also acknowledges and recognizes the combination of racism with various target
identities, such as gender and socioeconomics, without permitting these different axes of oppres-
sion to entirely accommodate and replace a racial analysis (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017).
Counterstories are not fictional stories, for they are grounded explicitly in social situa-
tions and reality (Solórzano & Villalpando, 1998). To do so, CRT accentuates the qualitative
personal experiences of historically silenced individuals as a means of recentering dialogues on
the margins and adding critical race perspectives from those individuals who have personally
43
experienced social oppression and injustice—perceptions often lost in majority groups’ telling of
history. The use of scholarly research data lack discourses with the disarray types of lived experi-
ences, demanding acknowledgment for the real strengths and traditions of minority culture and
seeking to share, expose, and reveal the oppressed stories of intersectional privilege and race
among silenced groups attending institutions of higher education. The use of counter storytelling
in analyzing a college environment provides staff, faculty, and SOCs with an existing voice to tell
their narratives involving the unknown marginalized experiences of students. Counterstories can
assist in understanding the underlying complexities among PWIs, analyzing the climate of a
college campus, and providing opportunities for further studying and research on how any college
can become inclusive and not merely casually diverse. This goal is significant to keep in mind
when colleges or universities work to create a diverse and inclusive college community. Any
college can aim to increase its diversity by increasing the number of SOCs. However, if the
college does not make the specific and necessary changes to make the college environment
inclusive, the college will have challenges in maintaining and establishing a diverse group of
students. In some cases, counterstorytelling supports the permanence of bigotry and racism,
which is a tenet of CRT; therefore, counterstories are a central component to critical race methods
and approaches and can serve as a pedagogical tool that can permit one to better appreciate and
understand the unique responses and experiences of SOCs (Solórzano & Bernal, 2001, p. 314).
Equally as important, such critical and personalized storytelling “establishes a common ground
among the most vulnerable and marginalized citizens in our society by adding a familiar face
toward the theoretical practice among higher education” (Solórzano & Bernal, 2001, p. 314),
thereby demonstrating “possibilities beyond the ones they demonstrate[d] that they are not alone
44
within their position” (p. 314). For an individuals in a qualitative study, the process of telling
their own stories may be empowering and emancipatory (Owens et al., 2019).
Centrality of Race and Racism
Embedded within the personal and educational first-hand experiences of SOCs are those
concepts of race and racism as well as the intersection of racism-related forms of subordination
related to sexual orientation, gender, surname, socioeconomic status, or accent. While race was
holistically accepted as a social construction, CRT researchers acknowledge “the power of a
social and cultural reality that permits significant disparities in the livelihood and changes of
individuals of color based on the categorical understanding of race” (Locks et al., 2008, p. 266).
Therefore, to understand and study inequalities in education and subordination, researchers must
remain aware of biases, racism, and race to address their role and impact within educational
structures. Through CRT, the complex identities of being male, Latino, and first generation may
be explored through the concept of intersectionality and the idea reflecting the study of sex,
gender, race, socioeconomic status, and national origin with the various combination of those
various contributing factors and how they impact SOCs (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017).
Educational researchers (Barajas & Pierce, 2001) have described the three forms of inter-
sectionality as political, structural, and representational—two of which influenced this study:
representational and structural based. Structural-based intersectionality refers to the laws,
policies, and structures that make it challenging to support minorities because they occupy
various roles as oppressed (Patton et al., 2007). Representational intersectionality describes how
minorities were depicted within narratives. Specifically, FGLMs in community colleges experi-
ence intersectionality as a result of their SES (Engle et al., 2006). J. C. Hernandez (2000)
explained that this is critical and important because “intersectionality is not about categories of
45
personal identity but is concerned with ‘social status and hierarchies’ and how power is situated
to support specific groups while stripping agency and humanity of others towards further subor-
dination” (p. 577). Indeed, with the intersection of these roles concerning gender, race, and SES,
FGLMs experience several forms of subordination and marginalization among the predominantly
White students in community colleges.
Challenges to Dominant Ideology
Widely held theoretical perspectives regarding student attainment and development fail to
account for the experiences of SOCs because they tend to account for the skills related to White
students (J. C. Hernandez, 2000). CRT researchers have emphasize equity, equality, and social
justice issues. Solórzano and Villalpando (1998) explained that “CRT is committed to social
justice and offers a transformative response to gender, racial, and socioeconomic oppression” (p.
216). Researchers view Whites as the dominant ethnic group and representative of all people—a
point of view that becomes a universal fact and truth by which everyone is compared (Delgado &
Stefancic, 2017). This point of view reinforces race-neutral practices and color blindness (Solór-
zano et al., 2002). As such, CRT becomes essential and useful in challenging traditional view-
points and perspectives by highlighting how the educational structures in place favor a dominant
or privileged group that continues to reinforce ongoing subordination.
Commitment to Social Justice and Practice
CRT researchers have emphasized equity and equality with respect to social justice
issues. Solórzano and Villalpando (1998) explained that “CRT is committed to social justice and
offers a transformative response to gender, racial, and socioeconomic oppression” (p. 216). Yosso
(2013) asserted that racism and race led to the emergence of two groups: (a) one privileged group
that defines the dominant practices and cultures and (b) subordinate groups that are subject to the
46
expectations and practices of the dominant culture. In the United States, the dominant culture
reflects White privilege: “a system conferring opportunities and benefits on White people simply
by nature of their race and color of their skin” (Solórzarno & Yosso, 2001, p. 483). One unique
story is that of meritocracy, which suggests that all individuals are uniquely capable of succeed-
ing based upon how hard they focus and work (Delgado & Stephancic, 2017). Throughout the
post-Civil Rights Movement period, new hidden forms of prejudice have replaced the older, more
overt ones that, combined with the philosophy of individualism, have prevented the majority of
dominant group members from understanding and actively seeking to reform the status quo
(Bernal, 2002). A contradiction arises in meritocratic thinking because it feeds into the “belief
system and practices of educators, researchers, and the systematic school curriculum, while
empowering students to self-influence their persistence and motivate other Latino students and
other students of color learning experiences” (Bernal, 2002, p. 120). Essentially, by believing in
meritocracy, educational-based systems continuously employ these practices that directly subor-
dinate SOCs. As mentioned previously, the racial climate of college campuses reinforces stereo-
types regarding the ability of SOCs to excel and succeed during their college careers. By engaging
in current social justice practices, CRT educational researchers have provided opportunities for
SOCs to acknowledge this oppression and to empower themselves to succeed in spite of it (Solór-
zano & Yosso, 2001).
Value of Experiential Knowledge
CRT educational researchers challenge traditional academic research methods instead of
leveraging those methodologies that enable the voices of the subordinate groups to be incorpo-
rated into research (Solórzano & Yosso, 2001). Through CRT, the experiences of SOCs become
relevant and valid for understanding their experiences with direct subordination. Boomier and
47
Jaime (2015) explained the value of experiential knowledge by noting that CRT educational
scholars use storytelling, chronicles, and counternarrative to undermine the claims of racial neu-
trality of traditional legal discourse to demonstrate racial discrimination and racism are not part of
the lives of people of color (POC). Racial discrimination and racism are deep and enduring parts
of the constant, everyday existence of SOCs. Consequently, chronicle counternarratives and
storytelling have been used to expose the racial biases that are profoundly embedded in the
unstated norms of this country’s laws and culture. Through narrative and storytelling, the expe-
riences of SOCs allow these individuals to freely express their stories by challenging dominant
and traditional frameworks about their unique and direct experiences with racism and race. These
personal stories, often referred to as counterstories, express and share alternative frameworks
through which CRT educational researchers study the experiences of SOCs and make those
stories valid and meaningful (Becerra, 2010).
Historical Context and Interdisciplinary Perspective
CRT educational researchers integrate various disciplines to comprehend their under-
standing of the personal encounters of SOC by including perspectives with respect to the histor-
ical context of gender studies, race relation, law, sociology, and other related fields. Academic
critics and scholars of CRT research challenge the tenets of CRT. For example, traditional aca-
demic critics argue that scholars who employ CRT lack respect for traditional styles and forms of
research by supporting storytelling (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). Delgado and Stephancic (2017)
disputed that by sharing personal stories of a limited few participant of color, CRT academic
researchers suggest that those personalized stories represent the whole group, because storytelling
lacks constructive rigor due to biases and objectification. CRT theories, however, clarify that they
do not practice unbiased and objective research. Instead the researchers propose how CRT
48
research resembles a counterstory towards the traditionally held notion of social science integra-
tion and research as unbiased (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017).
Validation Theory
The second theoretical framework to be explored is Rendón’s (2002) VT, which deals
with the factors that determine academic success and failure based on students’ performance and
experiences that were validated under affirmation and encouragement. For this study, involve-
ment is defined as “the investment of time, energy, and effort a student invests inside the class-
room and through the learning process” (Rendón, 2002, p. 657). VT was created to understand
the individualized experiences of nontraditional SOCs because they chose not to separate from
past family, cultural, and unfamiliar experiences once they started college. Rendón (2002) created
VT through personal exploration of her own childhood and college experiences, as well as
through qualitative research. VT is further defined as confirming, empowering, and encouraged
and influenced by an agent both in and out of the classroom “that nurtures interpersonal relation-
ships along with academic growth (p. 655). The author theorized that institutions of higher
education were specifically designed for the privileged traditional students and that often SOCs
and women were occasionally overlooked. The traditional student success model proposes that
with increased efforts, the time that students invest in their academic studies eventually adds
greater with their educational experiences in persisting at their institution (Justiz & Kameen,
1988).
Rendón (2002) defined traditional students as coming from “ privileged upper-class and
middle-class white backgrounds, although some students of color fit into this categorical class”
(p. 644). Conversely, the author defines nontraditional students as “descending from low-income
social economic status, poor working class and are often the first within their family group to
49
attend a four-year institution” (p. 647). Rendón (2002) hypothesized that SOCs have limited
options when they attend college. They can look within and empower themselves from their own
experiences, or they can adopt the dominant (White European American) culture at PWIs and
create a safe environment for themselves. Rendón (2002) stressed that institutions of higher edu-
cation must adapt, develop, and institute academic and cultural programs that validate SOCs by
providing a nurturing environment that validates their academic and personal efforts.
Rendón (2002) identified two types of validation that applies inside and outside the
classroom setting. The first type of validation is “in-class validation,” which “assists students to
compose and trust their distinctive abilities to engage, learn, and acquire their abilities to be con-
fident in being a college student” along with the “role of staff in fostering academic validation
which is extremely important” (p. 655). The second type of validation is “out of the classroom
validation” (p. 657). Examples of out-of-the-classroom validating agents could be counselors,
peers, family members, staff, faculty, or administrators. Rendón’s (2002) academic validation has
five components: (a) validation promotes learning; (b) validation is confirming a supportive
interaction to validate and facilitate healthy peer development and interactions among peers and
staff; (c) validation is necessary to facilitate healthy development; (d) validation is continuous,
occurring in and outside of the classroom; and (e) validation should be offered early in all stu-
dents’ college experiences. Rendón (2002) provided validation as a substitute for Tinto’s (1987)
integration model: “Invalidation models, organized as validation agents, as mentioned earlier, are
encouraged to take the initial steps first to promote inclusiveness and affirm students of color as
valuable members and the intellectuals of the academic community” (p. 644).
Rendón (2002) identified institutional agents as “any college staff that have direct contact
with students,” noting that these agents should take
50
proactive measures necessary to focus on these groups of students to affirm them as being
intellectually independent of producing independent and quality academic material and
enable them to network for long-term careers, or endeavors they have in mind after
college. (p. 643)
Rendón (2002) described classic involvement as having two distinct features that separate
it from her validation model. First, she contended that involvement is “ an act or something that
students were expected to do independently on their own” (p. 644) and second, that “the role of
the college is to foster involvement as passive, as it simply affords the student a mechanism to get
engaged and academically involved” (p. 647). Conversely, Rendón (2002) theorized that valida-
tion is an “active role, or act” (p. 653) that takes the shape of “some student, either inside or
outside of the classroom, taking an active role and interest in student learners that are putting
efforts to learn” (p. 653) or
the role of the institution among its agents by fostering validation from active counselors,
faculty, adjunct staff, coaches, and administrators who continuously reach out to students,
particularly students of color, to motivate them and by encouraging them to persist and
not to give up. (p. 653)
As an example, Rendón (2002) warned that colleges are inherently “invalidating” toward
SOCs. Examples of invalidation feed into the processes and structures of colleges that include
“discounting their life experiences, by referring to students based off their social security
numbers, detaching adjunct staff from students, and by promoting intellectual competition among
students to see who is the ‘smartest’ in the classroom” (p. 653). The key findings regarding VT
are that “staff and faculty can transform even the most vulnerable student into brilliant and
powerful learners who are driven about attending college and want to learn” (p. 661).
Rendón (2002) concluded that the following four elements can empower and support
SOCs who would otherwise leave their institution:
Orient staff and faculty to the strengths and needs of culturally sensitive and diverse
students; orient and train all college staff to constantly validate students; continuously
51
foster a validating in-classroom environment; and foster a beneficial warm environment
both inside-outside the classroom. (p. 661)
Subsequent ongoing research since 2002 has extended and reinforced the importance of
VT both as a student development framework and a theory to foster students’ overall success and
understanding (Linares & Muñoz, 2011). Morales’s (2008) quantitative analysis of integration
and validation started with the premise that “validation was a preexponent and preconditioning
for inclusiveness rather than an alternative to integration” (p. 208), as Rendón (2002) had
originally proposed.
VT has developed into a practical theory
that can be applied to effectively analyze and understand the persistence and accomplish-
ments of students of color, as it strengthens the teaching and learning, and understanding
of the student’s development as college students, framing students’ success and its strate-
gies. (Rendón, 2002, p. 199)
The clarification notwithstanding, Oladele and Barnett (2006) found that “empirical support for
Rendón’s (2002) proposition that validation supports and influences students’ persistence while
in college” (p. 2) and concluded that “staff who validate often drastically predicts students’
academic performance and inclusiveness to successfully persist till they graduate (p. 3). Accord-
ing to Oladele and Barnett (2012), “the theoretical-lens and approach for UTEP’s [University of
Texas, El Paso] student success was based off validation, affirmation, and through constant
encouragement that were perceived as determiners for students at UTEP success or failure” (p. 7).
To achieve this,
UTEP successfully identified four components that contributed to UTEP students’
success: academics, aspirational, persistence, and economic, that were essential when
validating and acknowledging these UTEP students’ efforts. Validation in this UTEP
study suggests that students of color interactions with supporting staff in a college envi-
ronment determine whether they will or will not successfully persist to a degree comple-
tion and so on. (p. 5)
52
Oladele and Barnett noted that all four components were essential in validating the students’ faith
in believing that they could succeed at their college and persevere by overcoming all other obsta-
cles.
In-class validation usually manifests as student recognition and has a positive outcome
that can be initiated by adjunct staff or peers who genuinely reach out to students in direct or
indirect ways of ensuring that students feel confident “to tap into innate and innate intellectual
capacity to respond positively and engage students in learning empowerment” (Rendón, 2000, p.
45). When college staff provides any form of validation, it is expressed to student in styles that
assist “each of the students to trust their confidence and innate intellectual abilities to engage,
learn, and acquire the intellectual confidence and commitment to academic success” (p. 45).
According to Rendón (2000), there is a distinction between validation and involvement. The
author stated that commitment consists of how much investment (i.e., energy, time, and efforts)
that students put into their college career, outside activities, and family. VT enables academic
researchers and educators to reflect beyond engagement, comprehending that validation goes
beyond just acknowledgment, “allowing students of color to transition students feeling that they
are contributing to and engaging in the social and academic community of an institution” (p. 47).
Two additional recent studies emphasized the applicability of VT practice in current insti-
tutions. Hurtado et al. (2011) found that “studying students of color sense of validation could
potentially hold promise for understanding community college students of color retention and
success rates across various two-year colleges” (p. 70) and, by doing so, “adjunct staff, faculty
and academic counselors/advisors can empower leaders to create and navigate inclusive practices
in diverse college environments” (p.70). The authors highly encouraged “key agents from all
53
college settings . . . [to use] “qualitative methods to observe students in social and academic
interactions and assist them in navigating the college and academic environment” (p. 56).
Riehl’s (1994) study on VT found that while “students rarely viewed college staff as
mentors,” students did “desire for the staff to share their own stories of their challenges that they
experienced as students, providing the SOCs “affirmation through validation, and reassurance to
commit to their goals” (p. 16). The author advocated for further qualitative and quantitative
studies specifically designed to focus on and emphasize the unique qualities of VT and their
applicability in today’s American institutions for the betterment of future first-generation SOCs.
Hurtado and Ponjuan (2005) concluded that “understanding the validation and personal experi-
ences of a diverse student population such as students of color can provide a dynamic and of
insights to nurture effectively and motivate all students to thrive, succeed towards their educa-
tional endeavors” (p. 241).
The Internal Impact of Validation: Transformational Transitional Changes
To achieve transformational transitional changes, students should do the following (see
Figure 1):
Figure 1
Students’ Transition to Higher Education
1. Become driven and/motivated, or both.
2. Be told, “I am valuable and cared for as both a student and an individual.”
3. Become engaged and excited about learning.
4. Believe that “I can do this/it.”
54
5. Feel a part of the academic and learning community and environment.
6. Believe in the inherent capacity to learn with confidence (Rendón, 1994, p. 43)
Chapter Summary
The literature review confirmed the limited amount of available research demonstrating
how academic, personal, and economic barriers impose restrictions on the completion rates for
FGLMs at 2-year community colleges. The perceptions of the barriers experienced by FGLMs
and the awareness on the part of community colleges regarding how these barriers pose chal-
lenges on FGLMs have impacted the flow of enrollment and graduation rates. These rates have
previously not been documented directly by students’ perspectives and experiences and the
number of research studies focused on the experiences of FGLMs enrolled at community colleges
in urban cities remains limited (Chang et al., 2013). Existing research provides a thorough insight
into the experiences of FGLMs and their specific needs and struggles stemming from unique bar-
riers and encounters at their 2-year community college settings. Only through this type of explo-
ration can educational scholars learn about what has successfully worked or what strategies had
effective and empowering influences on FGLMs’ persistence at their community colleges. This
chapter has provided the foundation to fundamentally understand who FGLMs are and how they
overcame those obstacles and challenges that could potentially derail their plans to obtain a
college degree.
Chapter 3 will outline the methodology used to thoroughly understand the challenges and
successes of 10 FGLMs attending two southern California community colleges, along with the
perceived experiences that these individuals thought had impacted their personal, academic, and
nonacademic life experiences as students.
55
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The purpose of this study was to identify and explore contributing factors and barriers that
SOCs, such as FGLMs, have encountered while persisting through two 2-year community
colleges. To answer the research question for this study regarding how FGLMs explained their
decision to attend and the process of attending a 2-year community college, the researcher
focused on how FGLMs perceived themselves as they navigated through a 2-year community
college in the pursuit of a college education, degree, and ultimate success.
The study explored and examined the unique challenges and experiences of 10 FGLMs
attending two southern California community colleges. Collected data were used from interviews
from these 10 students’ academic and nonacademic experiences that could assist community
college staff, professors, and leaders in developing appropriate, useful resources, and policies
aimed to increase access, completion, and retention rates consisting of FGLMs and of SOCs in
the pursuit of a college education for a better future.
Research Design
For this study, a semistructured interview style was chosen because its effectiveness
allowed the researcher to gain in-depth data from the perspectives of participants perspectives. It
was hoped that this style would enable the participants to create transparent dialogues by giving
them space to be able to tell their stories and express themselves. As Gonzalez et al. (1995)
reported,
viewpoints from participants are better divulged in an openly structured interview style
and setting, where participants can share and discuss important events based on question-
naires or interviews. For studies involving physical interviews, it is best to use semistruc-
tured interviews types only because the researcher gets to be present and observe the body
language, visuals, pick up on nonverbal cues, as opposed to online interviews where all
the important gestures are hidden and cannot be observed. (p. 466)
56
A semistructured interviewing approach was as an inner-subjective and commonsensical-
innovativeness style, beginning with participants’ introduction and explanations of the lived and
cultural experiences related to their everyday lives as civilians and as students. Therefore, as a
data collection method, the researcher sought a deeper informational understanding about each
participant’s values, lived experiences, cultural knowledge, and perspectives.
O’Conner (as cited in Gonzalez et al., 1995) noted that when it comes to participants’
views, the researcher has the flexibility to be objective because the collected data requires an
analysis process that involves the researcher’s subjectivity to find similar results. An analysis
through the lens of CRT allows and empowers researchers to work toward the elimination of
institutionalized racism in higher education and to reflect on Latinos’ academic struggle and self-
doubts as they concern SOCs’ attrition and retention. Rendón (1995) conducted a study examin-
ing how SOCs coped with the high academic demands, pressure, and personal stress by managing
their self-efficacy and how they maintained “the confidence and self-determination” (p. 13) to
persist throughout their college journey. Two frameworks were used to guide this research study:
Rendón’s (1995) VT and Delgado and Stefancic’s (2027) CRT. The following section addressed
FGLMs’ voices through CRT, VT, and counterstorytelling as the frameworks for this qualitative
study.
CRT and VT counterstorytelling is one of the most widely used methods incorporated
within critical race methodologies. The methodological approach for this study was a qualitative
narrative research design as the preferred approach to collect participants’ individual stories
(counterstorytelling) in detail. Simultaneously, the researcher used CRT and VT as the theoretical
rationales, as they served as tools to examine the institutional and personal complexities and to
help the researcher to put a face on the identity of SOCs’ experience as Latinos and as students, as
57
they conveyed their strengths and weaknesses. The researcher collected individual dialogues from
10 FGLMs who self-identified first in their families to enroll and attend one of two community
colleges in southern California in order to pursue a college degree. Counterstorytelling exposes
the complexities and challenges of students’ college experiences, adding emphasis on the individ-
ual and the group. In past and current research, Latino male college students have been histori-
cally understudied and inevitably invisible.
The goal for using VT-counterstorytelling is to transform that barrier by giving a voice to
this group of students. CRT and VT fulfill this gap as they provide space for SOCs, particularly
Latino male students, to highlight their personal struggles, issues of voice, and their positionality
within a college setting—holding a strong connection to the promise of democracy and commit-
ment to social justice (Heaney, 1996). Counterstorytelling can be utilized to challenge the tradi-
tional stories that are tied to Eurocentric oppressive structures, historical racism, sexism, and
classism perspectives that justify White Eurocentrics’ superiority and White supremacy (Bernal,
2002).
Yosso’s (2013) research emphasizes that when using personal stories as a counterstory
from marginalized groups of individuals, always document word for word to give a voice to those
students whose academic efforts reflect on their struggles. Also, this can be used as a strategy to
raise global awareness about ongoing racial disparities and injustices in academia through the
reflection of lived experiences, combined with literature and statistics on the narrative of “SOCs’
everyday lives as college students, or otherwise, [because] their voices are usually not heard (p.
88).
Counterstorytelling was used as a tool to challenge negative ideas and images. It was an
appropriate method to use because in this study it allowed FGLMs to share their experiences at
58
their current community college, where they perhaps experienced many barriers and to identify
what it means to be a Latino and a SOC in an institution that was not initially created for them.
Even so, the institutions have since attempted to adapt their attitudes, structures, policies, and
practices to provide for them with very little academic research available to ensure that these
attempts for access and equity were suitable and meets the needs of Latino students.
This is not to explicitly imply that PWIs have intentionally created academic communities
that are unresponsive to the needs of SOCs across the nation. However, for the most part, these
colleges were not created for these student group students, nor did they keep them in mind when
establishing them (J. C. Hernandez, 2000). Unfortunately, because of the challenging and long
history of race relations in this country, acculturation and assimilation are complex and challeng-
ing for Latinos and other SOCs in dominant White settings. VT would claim that community
colleges are not structurally equipped to address the specific needs of these students. For that
matter, how have these students thrived and survived in traditional colleges that were not estab-
lished for them to succeed and graduate? A phonological approach was also used and, based on
human and individual experience, offered concrete and unique insights that added to the human
phenomena instead of applying theory to explain the anomalies that have arisen throughout the
study (Sáenz & Ponjuan, 2011).
Site Selection
Qualitative research has various strengths; one unique strength is being able to explain
contextual influences, local processes, and meanings in specific settings (Mayer, 2015). To
conduct the study the researcher focused on two public, nonprofit, urban 2-year-community
colleges in southern California. The first community college (referred to as College A) had an
undergraduate student population of 30,260, with Latino students accounting for 9.0% of the total
59
population. The incoming freshman class of the 2017–2018 enrollment year was 4,695, with
53.11% being male students and 4% identifying as Mexican American/Chicano/Latino. The
incoming Latino male students represented the third largest minority group, being higher than
only Pacific Islander/Native American (< 0.2%). This community college campus was relevant to
the study because Latino male students comprised a large portion of the freshman class but were a
small percentage of the whole student body.
The second community college (referred to as College B) was an accredited 2-year com-
munity college offering university transfer paths, career education, and courses for personal and
professional growth. It sat on 80 acres overlooking greater area of West Los Angeles. For the
2018–2019 year, College B served between 15,000 and 20,000 students who were either full-time
or part-time students, some being online. The 2018–2019 total undergraduate student enrollment
was 16,000 students; in-state tuition was $1,220 per semester and out-of-state tuition, $6,810.
SOC enrollment (primarily Latino) was 84% of the total student body. College B had 10% more
female students than male students enrolled, with a gender ratio of 63% females to 43% males.
Compared to the U.S. average of 57% female students, College B had a lower gender diversity
than other American colleges and universities and was slightly less inclusive of males. College B
served 17,000 students (39% of students were full-time). College B had been identified as a
Hispanic serving institution (HSI), thereby eligible for federal grants supporting the college
efforts to serve Latino students. College B was one of the 49 community colleges serving Los
Angeles County. At the time of this study, the student population at College B had grown by 55%
over 6 years. College B’s diversity score of 0.74 was less than the state average of 0.82. The
school’s diversity had stayed relatively flat for 6 years; however, College B still retained the
small, warm college feel as it had no more than about 6,000 students on campus throughout any
60
given school day. College B was the only 2-year community college in California that offered a
bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene. College B’s online degree program was recognized as one of
the best in California as well as the nation. Students interested in transferring to a 4-year univer-
sity to complete their bachelor’s degrees could choose from 24 different AA degrees and receive
assistance with the transfer process from any on-campus transfer center, support organizations,
EOPS, TRIO (a federally funded, comprehensive support program for first-generation and
limited-income college students to help them to overcome academic barriers in higher education),
the Puente Program (an academic and community leadership liaison program designed to assist
students transfer to a 4-year institution), and the Honors Transfer Center.
These two community colleges (Colleges A and B) were relevant to the study because
Latino male students comprised a large portion of the freshman class but were probably a small
percentage of the whole student body. The statistics suggested that these students’ college expe-
riences went unheard, unmet, and the students were marginalized because these institutions
lacked the techniques to make lessons relevant to their interests, thus creating an unsupportive
and hostile environment with respect to their cultural and social needs. Unfortunately, despite
growing amount of literature regarding FGLMs, the perception remains that mainstream White
institutions across this nation have not been successful in fully diversifying and integrating Latino
male students and other SOCs in predominantly mainstream systems within higher education
(Mayer, 2015).
Research Question
For this study, the guiding research question was, “How do FGLMs explain their decision
to attend and the process of attending a 2-year community college?” The question focused on
examining how participants perceived their college experience as having contributed to or
61
influenced their academic success. In the research question, the researcher wanted to investigate
the specific strategies and motivations used to overcome the mental challenges or personal strug-
gles that participants encountered during their studies and then compare the contributing factors
to those stated in the literature review. For example, when a SOC particularly experiences
increased levels of mental anxiety, there is a higher chance for the student to feel overwhelmed
personally and academically. The research question examined several contributing factors
concerning FGLMs’ college experiences that influenced their personal decision to stay engaged,
persevere, and remain focused on their goals, regardless of their struggles, and still manage to
fulfill their academic obligations.
The purpose of the research question was to provide a voice and to articulate the expe-
riences of marginalized persons such as SOCs enrolled at two community colleges, thereby
allowing these students to share how they viewed their experiences both inside and outside the
classroom. CRT was used to structure the interview questions and the protocols in an informal
way. During the interviews, semistructured questions were asked with the aim to build trust, lead
to rapport building, and access the thoughts and feelings of each participant—all of which
enabled the development of the understanding and meaning that participants ascribed to their
experiences as students before starting college. The approach was a safe, inviting, and unique for
getting participants to discuss personalized struggles, happy moments, and significant life events
within the context of a college education from a first-generation student perspective. This way,
the researcher can better understand any phenomena in a new and different perspective (Maxwell,
2012).
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Procedures
Recruitment
The recruitment flyers (that contained the researcher’s email address for those students
interested in the study to contact the researcher) were posted throughout various locations on both
college campuses (see Appendix A). All 10 participants received the posted flyers from bulletin
boards, bus stops, student dining areas, and nearby coffee shops near both campuses. Prospective
participants were initially contacted via email (see Appendices B and C), to which was attached a
consent form for participation (see Appendix D). Five students who met the criteria were chosen
from each community college and the researcher ensured that all prospective participants met the
criteria necessary to participate in this study and then invited them to participate. Five students
who met the following criteria were chosen from each community college: (a) male, (b) 18 years
old or older, (c) a first-generation Latino/Hispanic attending college (e.g., those identifying as
Mexican, Mexican American, Central and South American), and (c) having accumulated 60+
units with the goal of earning an AA or AS degree and/or planning to transfer to a 4-year private
or public in-state or out-of state institution to earn a bachelor’s degree.
Participants were initially recruited using a snowball sampling technique, as they were
asked to pass along the recruitment flyer (Appendix A) to other first-generation students who
might be interested in participating. Referrals were further derived from a listserv from the Latino
Student Association at the two participating community colleges. Outreach for the 10 participants
took approximately 6 weeks. A representative from each of the two colleges’ student involvement
center assisted in identifying the participants and provided contact information for potential
students. After identifying the 10 participants, the researcher assured that they all met the required
63
criteria as described in the study’s recruitment letter and emails that were sent to each participant
for the study.
Once all 10 participants were recruited, screened, and selected, the researcher confirmed
all interview appointments via phone or emails and contacted them to arranged individualized
interviews. The researcher made sure that he spaced the interviews far enough apart to ensure that
he could make immediate field notes after each interview. During each face-to-face interview, the
researcher asked for verbal consent from each participant to assure that permission was granted
for ethics purposes and the quality of the study. Once verbal consent was obtained, the interview
was audio recorded for security and quality purposes. Following the completion of the entire
study, the researcher deleted all permissions for security purposes. For qualitative interviewing
purposes and practice, the researcher used pseudonyms to respect and hide the participants’ real
names and demonstrated genuine interest by being empathic when participants shared intimate
and traumatic moments during interviews. The researcher also provided comfort during the
interactions between the researcher and the participants, as participants shared their individual-
ized experiences based on the research question and surveys. All 10 participants were given a
demographic questionnaire (Appendix E) to complete and were interviewed individually to
capture their experiences and stories; the interview protocol is contained in Appendix F.
As demonstrated in the above literature, there is a need for further work centered on how
colleges across America fail Latinos rather than how Latinos fail school. To conclusively prove
the argument for this study, the researcher identified and selected 10 male Latinos who were first-
generation community college students who were about to complete their AA degrees success-
fully in the next year or so. The researcher used a purposeful sample to ensure that participants
were high school graduates, were either members of the public education system (K-12) in
64
California or a high school graduates in the United States, and were the first among their siblings
and within their families to enroll in a college education.
Although the 10 individuals were willing to take part in the research, there were a few
obstacles. One participant reported having transportation issues and was not always available on
campus; therefore, the researcher made special arrangements to meet with him off the campus or
near his home. Another participant had significant trust issues due to his sexual orientation and
was extremely afraid of being outed and facing backslash. However, he was more than willing to
participate after hearing of the research through another classmate (participant) and contacted the
researcher to express his desire to join when he was informed of the study’s details. The research-
er reassured the student that he was trustworthy and that the participant could feel safe sharing
any relevant college experience that he felt would add to the research study. The researcher
notified the participant that working with him was a privilege and thanked him for sharing per-
sonal and intimate details to help the researcher to complete his study. Most importantly, the
researcher assured the participant that his trust would never be taken for granted.
Once contact was made with each participant, the researcher made it clear hat it would not
be easy to communicate via email due to limitations surrounding possible email address changes.
The researcher thus used the participants’ school email addresses because these ensured security
and assurance that information would get to each participant. Barriers and challenges were
discussed in detail within the guidelines of the study limitations.
The research question did not require any alterations since it was formatted precisely for
the targeted group; the tools used for the interview sessions sufficed for the research and study.
During the study, there were no issues, concerns, or harm to participants. Once the study came to
its conclusion, interviews were scheduled with all participants at various locations outside the
65
campuses of Colleges A and B at public places such as public parks, coffeeshops, or the college
library during April and May of 2018. Given the small Latino male population of students on
both campuses, snowball sampling was used to recruit and identify some of the participants (J. A.
Maxwell, 2012).
During this study, the researcher taught Spanish literature at El Camino College. Many of
the participants were referred to the researcher through a snowball effect from other professors
and the Latino student association at both of the participating community colleges (Colleges A
and B), whose intended goal was to help build and sustain a thriving campus community, includ-
ing targeting, enrolling, and supporting to graduation SOCs, particularly FGLMs. The Latino
participants were a clear sample of the diversity and demographics of the Latino student sub-
group. Although the 10 participants were current students at either College A or B, all came from
diverse socioeconomic backgrounds; were monolingual, bilingual or trilingual; and had parents
who were dealing with complicated immigration issues. FGLMs tend to be from low-income
families or backgrounds, with household incomes less than $25,000 (Choy, 2001).
Counterstorytelling
Counterstorytelling, as described by Solórzano and Yosso (2001), is used as the method
to help to share the stories of Latino male students’ college experience at American colleges or
PWIs. This style is defined by telling personal stories from the voices of students who are often
left out of literature and used to help challenge the traditional stories that are rooted in Eurocen-
tric perspectives that justify inequalities and normalize White superiority and/or White suprem-
acy. Solórzano and Yosso (2001) reported that “oppression is internalized and rationalized,
resulting in little self- examination and a lack of awareness by the oppressor. Thus, the stories of
students of color can catalyze the necessary cognitive conflict to a jar-conscious racism “ (p. 475).
66
The theme of this study involved combating prevailing personal ideologies by recording how
FGLMs overcame social and personal obstacles to college success.
CRT is an essential tool for developing a thorough and more in-depth understanding of
the experiences of specific Latino American ethnic groups and individuals. For the past few
decades, researchers and educational practitioners used CRT as a lens that centralizes the experi-
ences and voices of POC to inform research and practice. Crucial to advancing a prosocial justice
agenda, this theoretical framework was implemented to better understand the present inequities
impact and existence at 2- and 4-year colleges and at other academic levels among higher educa-
tion. The omitted voices and experiences of people of color are not just essential but critically
profound in understanding racism in the 21st century. As such, CRT researchers rely on research
that objectively centralizes the voices of POC, such as oral history, interview narratives, and
storytelling (Brighton & Moon, 2007). Based on the work of Shaw and Goldrick-Rab (2006),
these authors’ work has elucidated the absolute importance of documenting the personal stories
and struggles of disadvantaged groups, including SOCs, because their voices were usually
ignored or invalidated. Therefore, counterstorytelling from underrepresented students can help to
break down all stereotypes, negative ideologies, and fears of SOCs across college campuses. As
qualitative research is relevant to the personal experience of SOCs, qualitative storytelling is also
limited but is required as an alternative method to gather personal stories that are technically data
for the design, development, or documentation of counterstorytelling; therefore, the use of this
type of qualitative design was suitable for this form of study. As phenomenology primarily
attempts to explain individual and collective human experience (Creswell, 2014), this type of
theoretical formulation has emphasized and complemented the research emphasis of this study.
67
For the present study, the investigator addressed the research by accessing the Latino male
groups of students at both college campuses and used a criterion-based, semistructured sampling
method approach. Sampling refers to the active identification and recruitment of participants,
which allows researchers to produce information about a population of interest (J. A. Maxwell,
2012). Considering that it would be inefficient and time consuming to conduct the study with all
FGLMs in a community college setting,
the purpose of sampling is to accurately confirm that the selected group of participants
and the informational sources adequately mirrors the characteristics of the sample popu-
lation for whom the study results are specifically intended and may be similar and rele-
vant. (LaVange et al., 2010, p. 647)
The researcher focused on addressing exploratory, open-ended questions “based on char-
acteristics to study a specific phenomenon, open-ended questions” (Turner et al., 1999, p. 59)
rather than qualitative data integrated into hypothetically deductive study methods. The re-
searcher identified and contacted the faculty advisor of the Latino student organization via email
from the listserv. Initially, the researcher contacted prospective participants via email. Also, the
recruitment emails contained an attached flyer advertising the study to ensure that all 10 partici-
pants met the specific criteria to participate in the study and interview one-on-one with the
researcher at an arranged time convenient to both participant and researcher.
Once the participants were selected and agreed to the terms and limitations of the study,
the researcher made contact via email, phone, or in-person and schedule individual interviews or
accommodated participants based on their availability. Ultimately the researcher summarized the
study to all participants, along with the research question, to allow the researcher to answer any
preliminary questions that the participants might have had before the interview. The researcher
assured participants that all information provided by them would be kept confidential for their
privacy and would not have an impact on their enrollment or attendance at the college where they
68
were registered. Also, as part of the interview process, the researcher thoroughly completed a
clear consent protocol documentation in which all participants had available beforehand via email
or in person. Each participant was individually interviewed at a specific site, location, or space at
his or her campus. It was assuring that all participants were comfortable with being recorded for
accuracy and for the use of data analysis that later took place. The purpose of these interviews
was to examine complex processes relating to the participants. The interview style offered the
researcher the ability to gain detailed descriptions of each student’s perceptions and to explore the
meanings and interpretations of specific events, lived experiences, decision events, and ideas (L.
G. Sullivan, 2007).
Data Collection and Coding
The data collected for this analysis consisted of audio recordings, field notes, and obser-
vations as part of each interview. With permission from each participant, the conversations were
audio recorded as one of the multiple ways of documenting relevant information during the
interviews (Creswell, 2014). As described in Merriam and Tisdell’s (2009), work, “data collec-
tion and analysis are carried out concurrently in any qualitative research or studies” (p. 214).
Throughout the data analysis process, the researcher incorporated some fundamental analysis
during the data analysis of data collection. The researcher reworded some of the interview
questions based on prior interviews and listened to all interview tapes before transcription.
Visuals and flow charts were used to make relevant correlations and connections with respect to
the data collected. The researcher then wrote memos dealing with emerging relationships and
categories among the cross-referenced data (Tym et al., 2004). The research question was intro-
duced in an open-ended style in order to effectively collect data that the researcher would not
69
have been able to collect in any other way; thus, the participants had an opportunity to provide
feedback or to vent.
Coding is the primary categorizing analysis strategy in qualitative research (Maxwell,
2012). Therefore, the researcher read and r-read through each interview and its field notes, the
transcript, and listened to each audio recording to extract a sense of the conversations shared by
each participant. During each reading, the researcher flagged phrases or words that highlighted
meanings and experiences of each participant and then summarized each interview overall.
Secondly, the researcher reread all data, analyzing the words and sentence structures to help in
understanding events and their effect on this study’s overall outcome.
The process of coding allowed for the examination, breaking down, comparison, concep-
tualization, and categorizing of gathered data (Horwedel, 2008). The researcher determined the
thematic structures of each participant’s experience. Specific themes were created for each
participant and then cross compared with other participants’ gathered information to identify
similarities across all groups. The axial coding process was conducted to ensure that the unique
voices of the Latino male students were represented if there were similar experiences to those
theme experience categories. The information was compared and shared to minimize any pre-
conceived themes or ideas about the Latino male students’ unique experiences (Horwedel, 2008).
Themes found were based on participants’ own words and experiences. Data were
gathered using a purposeful interviewing approach; and the collected data were analyzed, coded,
and interpreted using a phenomenological analysis procedure. End results from this study con-
tributed toward the unique barriers FGLMs encountered as they complete their community
college education.
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A qualitative interview research design protocol (Appendix F) was used to determine in
greater detail how Latino male students experienced and overcame an array of barriers at their
community college. To address the research question , a semistructured interview format was
used to understand students’ perceptions of experiences and their unique needs with regard to
educational pathways, enrollment, and persistence. All participants were interviewed individually
and produced a wealth of information to understand the perceptions and opinions of the partici-
pants about the specific topics of their unique barriers and fears on campus. Participants enriched
the research process as they provided information to (a) add depth and context to the understand-
ing of the phenomenon, (b) discover and explore concepts and themes about an event about
which more knowledge is much needed, (c) give the research an opportunity to observe the col-
lective interaction of the participants, and (d) provide specific interpretation of the phenomenon
from the participants’ point of view during the interviews. Given that the target population (i.e.,
FGLMs) might have found it difficult or might have been hesitant to describe their personal expe-
riences in a focus group setting, the individual consultations and meetings functioned the best for
this specific qualitative study and objective.
Covington (2000) stated that a qualitative research approach provides researchers with the
tools to uncover the different types of institutional and academic racism in higher education;
forms of inequality with respect to students’ financial resources, such as scholarships and grants;
and specific systems of bias that have impacted SOCs, whether on or off the campus environ-
ment.
The framework used for this study provided participants with the advantage to make their
stories vocals in any narrative, as this set up the importance of exploring issues revolving around
the subject of race, culture, and gender identity through storytelling from their life experiences in
71
college (Heslinga, 2015). A qualitative interview research design examined these students’ lived
experiences. Heslinga (2015) noted that “the voice exposes, tells and retells, signals resistance
and caring and power of commitment to change” (p. 9). Furthermore, CRT legitimizes the expe-
riences of participants of color, thereby affording outsiders with greater insight and being a guide
to further research on community collegiate settings.
Data Analysis
Creswell (2014) described the qualitative analysis as a data process as “an ongoing
process involving continual reflection about the data’” (p. 69). In comparison to highly structured
surveys or quantitative research, qualitative research allowed for a more personal and in-depth
look at first-generation urban community college SOCs’ perceptions and impressions of their
college experience (Zwerling, 1992). Qualitative research could also demonstrate how the college
setting influenced students’ overarching academic performance and outcomes as opposed to the
students’ preenrolled characteristics, because existing literature indicates that what happens to
first- generation SOCs after they enter a college environment has a more significant impact on
retention than other factors. To effectively approach a qualitative data analysis authentically and
critically, the data analysis consisted of the following elements: (a) recursively analyzing and
iterating data (i.e., a systematic, repetitive, and recursive process); relying on and composing off
the data analysis process; and (c) solely relying on memos through the data collection.
The researcher attentively captured all participants’ interactions, body language, dialogue,
and collected valuable data of interest for the study based on participants’ explanations and dis-
cussion. The researcher seeks multiple methods and data sources to develop a comprehensive
understanding of unexpected phenomena from the interviews. At the same time, he recognized
his role within the study in terms of his position (i.e., age, gender, legal immigration status,
72
sexual orientation, class) of authority and power (Covarrubias & Trivelli, 2015). For this process,
selective coding was conducted to formulate each of the participant’s lived experiences as
students and to identify themes, subthemes, patterns, and relationships that emerged from the
data. Finally, the researcher summarized the data to ensure that the findings were linked to the
purpose of this study. The main themes were highlighted in the findings as well as potential
contradictions.
All 10 individual interviews were recorded and manually transcribed through a chosen
transcriptionist, who signed a confidentiality agreement (see Appendix G). Given that confidenti-
ality and anonymity are paramount in interview studies and research, the participants selected
their own pseudonyms to protect their identity, confidentiality, and anonymity. Thus, the data
used for this study was anonymous during the transcription and analysis stages. Data analysis is a
complex task that requires researchers to consider the framework, its objective, the lens, and the
epistemological approach for the relational connection between codes of data and individuals’
microdata, all while considering the researcher’s own biases (Woosley & Shepler, 2011). The
researcher reviewed each transcript audio recording for the precision of the transcriptionist. To
ensure the accuracy of the transcriptionist, the investigator was careful in planning for effective
data processing when interviewing the participants. The investigator then reviewed the transcript
and interpreted and commented on the data as they were obtained to ensure that all details were
covered and that nothing valuable to the participant was left out. For example, following each
interview session, the researcher documented all the demographics pertinent to academia, barriers
and successes, and then processed the gathered data thoroughly in order to gradually refine the
focus of the study.
73
The following data analysis strategies from Harackiewicz et al. (2014) were used to
classify the following themes and subthemes:
• Compare data with data,
• Remain open,
• Keep your codes precise and simple,
• Stay close to the data,
• Preserve actions,
• Construct short codes, and
• Move rapidly across data and variables. (p. 377)
For the researcher to effectively focus on the coding aspect of the study, he developed a
code book before the data collection took place and used it as a point of reference to help guide
through the coding process. Data were gathered and placed into a secure spreadsheet using a
password-secure laptop. Compiled data were then encrypted and saved into an interview script
using the same worksheet. Also, the structured interview protocol made it easier for the re-
searcher to locate each of the interview questions and differentiate any overlapping, conflicting
categories, statements, or connections within all the interviews. The researcher labeled each code
with specific names, such as initial coding, line-by-line coding, categorization, and determining
themes and subthemes. To create structure when coding special categories and subthemes, mis-
cellaneous key points, data, supporting statements, and groups were entered in a separate spread-
sheet to be later placed in their appropriate categorical themes with regard to the interviews.
Riehl (1994) reported on the comparative method approach as “used by the researchers in
the data analysis section” (p. 17). This technique was helpful as it assisted the researcher to make
distinct comparisons across the spreadsheet using the collected data. This approach made the
comparison process easier for the researcher to parallel the similarities among all 10 participants
and to confirm that the findings accurately reflected the objective of this study. For this study, the
researcher used CRT, VT, and storytelling (counterstorytelling) as guides to identify, compare,
74
and sort emerging themes and subthemes. VT was helpful because it provided an analytic, cul-
turally based lens through which to analyze the data that were true to the perspectives of Latino
male students regarding their first-year experiences at two southern California community
colleges and to understand the gender, race, or in-class experience of these students. In this
process, examples of text taken from individual interviews transcripts that depicted the experi-
ences of Latino male students’ experiences during their last year in college were identified and
compared across all participants and will be discussed in Chapter 4.
Credibility and Validity
In qualitative research, there is no capturing of objective reality or truth, but a researcher
can use mixed methods to ensure credibility of the research findings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2009).
According to Merriam and Tisdell (2009), credibility is essential because researchers want the
findings to coincide with the reality of the participants’ shared information. The researcher made
sure that the terminology incorporated was described by all participants themselves and not
derived from putting the researcher’s ideas onto the participants’ voices.
Researchers must self-recognize their own biases and experiences and make sure that they
do not interfere or influence any part of the research and carry over to the study. This requirement
is a vital element and is a reminder to be used for a qualitative inquiry process (Mayer, 2015).
All study surveys were conducted anonymously, and no personal information was used to
enable the researcher to identify the survey participants. Ensuring trustworthiness and reliability
within any research study should always be the researcher’s pertinent goal by demonstrating that
the study’s findings are credible, transferable, confirmable, and dependable (i.e., ensuring that the
results are consistent and can be repeated in future studies (Merriam & Tisdell, 2009). To ensure
that the study was conducted ethically, the researcher first explained to all participants the goal,
75
purpose of the study, and the methods utilized to approach the research question (Brodes, 1994).
All participants were provided with a description summarizing the study as well as contact infor-
mation (phone numbers and emails) in case they had any questions or concerns after participating
in the survey. This practice allowed participants to decline to participate if they did not feel com-
fortable engaging in the study from the beginning.
The researcher obtained informed consent before all audio recordings and interviews.
Once the 10 individuals had decided to participate in the study, the researcher provided them with
all necessary and pertinent information to give an informed consent. The researcher explained the
protocols in detail. He also advised that they had the right to refuse to participate without penalty.
The informed consent (Appendix C) detailed the measures taken to assure confidentiality regard-
ing the information that participants would provide during the initial interviews, as well as who
would have access to the findings of the study; participants could choose pseudonyms to ensure
confidentiality (Brodes, 1994; Merriam & Tisdell, 2009). Toward the conclusion of the inter-
views, the researcher advised participants that, upon request, they could have a copy of the
findings. This procedure ensured an ethical approach to data collection and allowed for reliable
results and credibility (Brodes, 1994; Maxwell, 2012; Merriam & Tisdell, 2009). Finally, to
effectively ensure that the information shared was correct, the researcher emailed the findings to
all participants to confirm that they had no concerns, questions, or doubts as to how they were
portrayed throughout the study or the clarity of the issues that emerged from both the research
question and from survey interviews.
Researcher’s Positionality
A key element of the researcher’s position is that he identifies with immigrants; Mexi-
cans; Mexican Americans/Latin Americans; and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer,
76
Intersex, Asexual, Pansexual, Kink (LGBTQIAPK) communities. The researcher further identi-
fies as a queer Latino. Research involving the Latino and the LGBTQ communities means
embracing and questioning fluid identities and is dedicated to transparency without discrimina-
tion. However, the researcher does identify as a Mexican American or Chicano due to his Mex-
ican American ideals, customs, beliefs, and understandings of machismo that have governed his
entire life and at the same time played an important role in his education. His ability to critically
interact and appreciate the participants’ cultural and socioeconomic background thus gave the
participants an internal preceptor of being a fellow American Chicano associate pertaining to the
Mexican community. This situation contributed to the concept that a decolonized approach to
educational research is utterly essential to integrate in research studies, to the research question,
from the study topic to the interview questions asked of all participants, to the researcher himself
maintaining appropriate distance and including assumptions and cultural biases into the study
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2009; Parker & Villalpando, 2007).
Chapter Summary
This chapter described the direction that the researcher took to obtain the expected
outcomes to meet the study’s objectives. To effectively perform a comprehensive interview study,
the researcher used 10 student participants and selected theoretical frameworks that were consid-
ered appropriate for the study of FGLMs, the aspirations of current FGLMs, the college enroll-
ment rates, and factors impacting college adjustment and the academic performance of FGLMs,
college persistence and graduation rates of FGLMs, and some of the on-campus student resources
that had demonstrated some success in serving FGLMs. The participants should have been able to
understand the specific role that the researcher played in the study because their experiences
related to his own experience when he was a community college student. In this chapter the site
77
selection, recruitment process, procedures, instrumentation, data collection and coding, and data
analysis were discussed.
Throughout Chapter 4, the researcher will describe the study outcomes based on all inter-
views and measures and how they related to the theoretical frameworks based on the data analysis
used to carry out the study. In Chapter 5, the researcher will further articulate and discuss the
findings in relation to past research studies and will suggest practical implications and recom-
mendations for future practice when working with SOCs in higher education, specifically
FGLMs.
78
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS
For this interview study, the objective was to capture the perspectives of FGLMs, along
with the challenges that they encountered while attending a 2-year community college. To col-
lectively achieve this goal, themes and patterns that emerged from the interviews served to
specifically address how FGLMs persisted and what types of academic support were deemed
necessary for these students to succeed in their college careers. In this chapter, the themes are
specifically discussed by using exemplary individual quotes, providing descriptions from all
participants that cover all of the questions on the interview protocol, and using narratives and
summaries of the barriers encountered by FGLMs enrolled at the two southern California com-
munity colleges.
All 10 interviews were conducted separately through the use of a semistructured interview
protocol, and each participant completed a demographic questionnaire as part of the study “to
address the analyzed data and answer the research question” (Atkins et al., 2008, p. 2). The
researcher considered the following issues when analyzing all data during the data collection
process:
1. Was the research question still worth asking and answerable?
2. Considering that all 10 participants do not represent a general and scientific sample of
2-year community colleges across the nation, generalizations beyond the sample cannot
be made. However, the data both elaborated on and deviated from the literature to keep
the process open to fresh perspectives and understandings.
Qualitative narrative analysis using counterstorytelling as a study technique was the
methodological approach chosen for this study. Counterstorytelling was vital to this research
study as it provided a useful research tool that complemented the theoretical rationale of CRT and
79
VT. Identified data were transcribed, analyzed, and interpreted based on the induction process.
Once data were distributed to categories, they were converted to charts and graphs to make their
meaning clearer. In this chapter the identified data analysis and encrypted data are explained
along with their purpose. Themes from the interviews and questionnaire were then gradually
narrowed to what was most fundamental, corresponding to the central research question. Also
identified were data that led to secondary findings (subthemes).
The longest interview lasted for 1 hour 30 minutes; the shortest session was 45 minutes
(not including the administrative preparation). An interview protocol was used to answer the
research question and to elicit themes and subthemes as they pertained to the analysis. Coded data
were also utilized.
Description of Participants
CRT is an analytical theoretical framework that stems from the field of critical legal
studies that have addressed the racial inequities in American society and higher education. CRT
has been the perception that the individual-aware approach “consists of collaboration, vision,
[and] conceptions of meritocracy as an outgrowth of institutional and collective struggles”
(Chaitin, 2000, p. 17) surrounding integration in a postsegregationist America. CRT was applied
in the application of storytelling and interviews, thereby allowing the researcher to explore further
the college experience from an individual’s perspective (Chaitin, 2000). The frameworks of CRT
and VT allowed all participants to voice their experiences at the center of the study and to be
heard with the aim of helping to explain the experiences of SOCs.
CRT theorists view this knowledge as strength based and draw on the personal experi-
ences of POC, particularly SOCs, by including such methods as storytelling, biographies, family
history, cuentos, parables, chronicles, testimonies, scenarios, and narratives (L. A. Bell, 2019). Of
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the 10 demographic surveys that were completed, all self-identified as Latinos; seven were of
Mexican heritage, and three were from the Colombian, Guatemalan, and Salvadorian cultures.
All 10 participants were first-generation college students who attended the community
colleges selected for the study. All 10 had been consistently enrolled and active at their college
within the last 6 years, or 12 semesters. The collected demographic data and other relevant infor-
mation included their chosen pseudonyms, their year in college, age, academic majors, generation
series, and country of origin. Participants’ academic majors included psychology, economics,
biology, education, business, sociology, Spanish, chemistry, political science, and social work. In
an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) type of study, such as this qualitative study,
the sample size was reasonable enough to obtain enough data to adequately describe the phe-
nomenon of interest to address the research question. As J. P. Smith (2003) stated, “a smaller
sample size was appropriate because it focuses more on understanding a problem as a whole, and
in a specific setting” (p. 316).
Participant #1: Pedro
Pedro, age 19, was studying psychology. He was Mexican American and a junior at
College A. He was from Norwalk, California, and lived at home with his mother. Both of his
parents were born in Mexico, and his six older siblings in the blended family lived across the
country.
Participant #2: Rodolfo
Rodolfo, age 19, was studying chemistry and was from Alhambra, California. He was
Mexican American and a junior at College A. His father emigrated from Mexico; his mother was
reared in Banning, California. Rodolfo was the oldest of four children. At the time of this study,
he was commuting daily to College A with his siblings.
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Participant #3: Noel
Noel, age 20, was studying biology. He was Mexican American, a junior at College A,
and lived in Long Beach, California. He was raised by his single mother, who was born in
Mexico, and was the third of six children. While his mom lived in a nearby suburb, Noel had
chosen to live off campus with two other students he met on campus who were also biology
majors.
Participant #4: Ruben
Ruben, age 24, was studying education. He was Mexican American, a junior at College A,
and lived in Sylmar, California. He was the ninth of 10 children and the first of his siblings to
attend college. Both of his parents emigrated to the United States from Mexico. Ruben commuted
to campus from south Los Angeles 3 times a week.
Participant #5: Tony
Tony, age 25, was studying business. He was Mexican American and a senior at College
A. Born and raised in Compton, California, he was the third of four boys. His parents emigrated
from central Mexico. Tony had a brother who graduated from Yale, another currently enrolled
with him, and a third still in high school and who started at Stanford University in the fall of
2018. Tony commuted to college daily.
Participant #6: Raul
Raul, age 25, was studying sociology. He identified as Mexican American, was a senior at
College B. Raul was from Paramount, CA. His older brother was studying physics at the Univer-
sity of California, Berkeley. Raul lived at home with his parents, who were American born. Raul
was in the honors program at College B.
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Participant #7: Jesse
Jesse, age 25, was studying Spanish literature. He was Mexican American, a senior at
College B, and was from Gardena, California. He was born in Torrance, California, and was
living at home with his parents. His mother was an immigrant from Michoacán, Mexico, and he
shared with her a love for Mexican country music. His father was from California, and his
younger brother was applying to colleges across the country. Jesse wanted to earn a PhD in
Spanish and be a professor at a top university.
Participant #8: Enrique
Enrique, age 26, was studying economics. He was Guatemalan American, a senior at
College B, and was from South Gate, California. Enrique was the youngest child in his family
and had three older sisters. One had briefly attended college but did not finish due to financial
reasons. Both of Enrique’s parents were from Guatemala. Enrique lived with a roommate in the
West Los Angeles area in order to be closer to campus.
Participant #9: Charlie
Charlie, age 27, was studying political science. He was Salvadorian American, a senior at
College B, and was from San Francisco, California. Charlie’s five older brothers had completed
engineering degrees at Bay area universities (Berkeley; Stanford; University of California, San
Francisco; University of San Francisco, and Holy Names University). Charlie was raised in the
San Francisco Bay area. He wanted to be an immigration judge one day and give back to the
immigrant population. He lived off campus in an apartment with his girlfriend.
Participant #10: Tito
Tito, age 29, was studying social work. He was Colombian American and a senior at
College B. He was originally from Miami, Florida, but grew up in Lennox, California. Tito was
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the younger of two boys. His brother had started college the previous year at Arizona State Uni-
versity as a freshman, and Tito hoped to be a great role model for his future children and family.
He commuted to campus and worked in two part-time jobs (Costco and Uber driver) to help him
with his college expenses. See summary information regarding participants in Table 1.
Table 1
Summary of Participants’ Demographic Information
Academic
Pseudonym Year Age
a
major Ethnicity
Pedro Junior 19 Psychology Mexican American
Rodolfo Junior 19 Chemistry Mexican American
Noel Junior 20 Biology Mexican American
Ruben Junior 24 Education Mexican American
Tony Senior 25 Business Mexican American
Raul Senior 25 Sociology Mexican American
Jesse Senior 25 Spanish Mexican American
Enrique Senior 26 Economics Guatemalan American
Charlie Senior 27 Political Science Salvadorian American
Tito Senior 29 Social Work Colombian American
Note. All participants were first generation.
a
Median age for participants was 22.7.
The 10 participants shared several commonalities, including a common general culture—
meaning that their parents come from a Spanish-speaking country and their roots originated from
a Spanish-speaking country. Another commonality for these participants was that they all had
distinct backgrounds even though they came from the same Spanish-speaking country such as
Mexico, Central or South America, or the Caribbean Islands. All participants described their
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communities or home towns as being a Latino-dominated area but highly diverse in terms of
ethnicity and race. An unexpected commonality that was unexpected was that the current U.S.
President, Donald J. Trump, was mentioned numerous times by participants although he was not
referred to by the researcher or in the interview protocol. Many participants reported that Presi-
dent Trump inspired a host of negative reactions—among them, causing them to feel emotional
stress and concern for their livelihood due to the President’s charged comments regarding the
Latino community.
The additional commonality for all 10 participants was that they were all in the process of
transitioning, culminating, or becoming upper-class students in their academic programs with
more than 55 units at their college. The study permitted each participant to be engaged and to
freely share their unique experiences encountered as college students concerning their culture
with respect to the research question and to further elaborate what it meant to be a SOC at their
college campus. As opposed to hearing initial experiences from college freshmen at 4-year insti-
tutions, this study provided community college FGLMs the opportunity to compare their experi-
ences from past to present; past studies have focused only on transitioning upperclassmen
students.
All 10 participants were working part-time or full-time jobs while enrolled in a full load
consisting of 12+ credits or units. All participants reported being of low SES and shared that their
families’ net income was near the nation’s poverty level. They were seeking a college education
as a means to obtain a better quality of life and a better experience once they had graduated.
Pedro mentioned not having a choice other than to work to pay for his tuition each year but that
his mother assisted in paying some of his school expenses as well.
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Findings from this study suggested that the FGLMs’ gender, family, and ethnicity-based
expectations had a great deal to do with the motivating factors that drove these students to
persevere with their academic challenges and aspirations. Also, the majority of participants
reported that their demographics were the primary reasons that they experienced barriers while
pursuing an AA degree and then transferring to a 4-year college or university. All participants felt
validated in various forms that will be discussed explicitly in this chapter. Enrique explained that
the financial hardships were relatively challenging this semester. Tito, Tony, and Rodolfo
divulged that their economic disadvantages were concerning and were recurring at the time of the
study. Tito spoke of not being able to participate in a required music concert as part of an in-class
assignment because he could not afford to attend, nor could his father provide him with the finan-
cial support to participate.
Some participants viewed their high school experiences as not challenging and indicated
that their courses were too easy and uninteresting. However, most reported that their high school
experiences provided them with the opportunity to be someone in life. Jesse explained that
my college prep school was really straightforward, easy, and didn’t really intellectually
stimulate me and as soon as I started the JC [junior college] . . . I felt that I was
academically unprepared for the rigors of a college. . . . I often felt that I started college
with little academic knowhow and felt as if I was going to drop out even before
graduation.
Participants shared that they did not anticipate starting college with numerous expecta-
tions. Many of them were not academically prepared for the level of coursework, such as readings
and written assignments, until they received their class syllabus; they did not realize how difficult
college would be until their first day of class. Raul shared that
as I started my college career, I wasn’t sure how I was going to contribute and/or program
myself to focus. Thankfully I live at home, worked between 20 to 30 hours while hustling
. . . managing a full-time schedule. . . . It’s unfortunate that my high school didn’t provide
me with the means to access good and valuable information on how to prepare for a
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college education because those resources were inadequate . . . now I have to hustle to get
good passing grades.
For many participants, their only assumption regarding college was what they read in
pamphlets, saw on television commercials, and learned through observation and conversation
from their White or Asian peers in high school. Charlie noted that “in my immediate family, no
one had . . . [pursued a college career] somehow at many levels, that might have encouraged me
to kick ass and would have validated my current experience as a college student.” All participants
had felt uncertain and unsure regarding their goals and expectations. Many of their families did
encourage them to persist and to graduate from college. Raul reflected:
Like I totally think back to when I was a senior in prep school, and my father would
always follow up by asking if I had applied to college or what alternative plan I had in
mind. . . . Dad would have inquired in the same way that he would ask about other impor-
tant priorities, “Have you eaten and showered today? . . . As a first generation, my dad
didn’t finish school all the way . . . so he wouldn’t know how to establish effective socia-
ble skills. . . . Dad doesn’t know how to socialize and make friends among different set-
tings . . . because for the most part . . . he is always stuck in the same social environment
that he’s been since migrating to this country.
Similarly, Raul divulged how his immediate and extended family taught him and his siblings to
respect and value their schooling:
Preschool and up to my senior year in high school was . . . organized and planned to
where I had an academic tutor twice a week . . . and my parents were heavily involved
with my studies and any other academic involvement and participated in any internal and
external activities.
Findings Related to Research Question
The following research question that was asked and helped shaped the background and
the dialogue for this study: “How do FGLMs explain their decision to attend and the process of
attending a 2-year community college?” After carefully reviewing the literature, the researcher
question formulated the research question to explore the chosen topic and to create the blueprint
for Chapter 4.
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All 10 participants reported being family oriented and willing to make sacrifices as a way
to improve their families’ SES, because the family played a very significant role in their academic
performance and experiences (see Figures 2 and 3). The median age for the 10 male participants
was 22.7; their ages ranged from 19 to 29 years (M = 23.9, SD = 3.4); 0% were married or
partnered, 50% reported not working; 0% reported having higher education. Less than 20%
reported living alone, and 100% identified as first-generation Latino male students.
For this study, the researcher sought to address and obtain personal responses about all
participants’ experiences regarding their awareness and availability of supportive services in a
community college setting. Participants would be allowed to respond to the research question
based on their personal experiences feeling secure and relaxed while having the freedom to
respond as they chose without any judgment.
Introduction to Themes
For this study, three themes emerged that helped to address the research question, “How
do FGLMs explain their decision to attend and the process of attending a 2-year community
college?” These themes were (a) in-class validation experiences (b) out-of-classroom validation
experiences, and (c) internal validation experiences. Subthemes were selected by the researcher
as they assisted in identifying unique experiences and in emphasizing whether participants felt
individually validated as community college students. Table 2 and Figure 4 summarize the
themes and subthemes.
Theme 1: In-Classroom Validation Experiences
In this study, the classroom environment holistically provides participants with memo-
rable experiences, and many participants reported feeling validated through various sources such
as by the school faculty, peers, janitors, and the student organizations as a whole. Many
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Figure 2
Education Level of Participants’ Fathers
Figure 3
Educational Level of Participants’ Mothers
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Table 2
Themes and Subthemes That Emerged in the Study
Themes Subthemes
#1: In-classroom validation experiences Peer support
Classroom/faculty environment
Machismo and asking for help
#2: Out-of-classroom validation experiences On-campus involvement
Immediate family support
Mentors
Need for Latino male professors
#3: Internal validation experiences Giving back and community obligations
Male gender role and expectations
Self-motivation and validation
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Figure 4
Research Question as Related to the Emergent Themes and Subthemes in the Study
participants obtained direct assistance and academic support outside of the classroom. They
reported that those relationships provided validation that manifested in more than one ways and
noted that the validation of the classroom was insufficient because many participants obtained
assistance elsewhere other than the classroom. However, the assignments, one-on-one (face-to-
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face) tutoring and faculty relations all helped participants to recognize their potential by making
them feel acknowledged within the classroom setting.
Peer Support
Validation and peer support were a subtheme brought about when students discussed their
level of comfort and how they perceived themselves through the opinions of others. Although
participants lightly discussed details about the degree of support they felt from their in-classroom
peers, as peers were mentioned as a form of validation. Given the current political climate, many
participants felt that they had internally processed the attitude, rhetoric, and racially charged
statements toward Mexicans/Latinos of U.S. President, Donald J. Trump; and his words were
used as motivators for them to do better and succeed in college. In other words, President
Trump’s negative generalized comments were used by participants as a platform to increase their
chances for upward mobility through education. Noel highlighted the following:
I prefer to study and work on my assignments on campus and around other groups of
students because it enables me to focus and feel inspired, as opposed to being at home
where I might want to relax and take a nap. I don’t trust myself being at home because I
then I won’t do anything, and I’ll get lazy, plus it’s challenging for me to study at home
around my siblings and four inside dogs we have. . . . I really wish my campus had a
specific area or zone specifically to study . . . that will be essentially ideal . . . too bad my
campus is still making progress developing an array of student resources for students like
myself. The staff are very encouraging and are always willing to assist in finding articles
if I need to do research, and it’s helpful—I’m not sure—one day I would like to success-
fully get academically recognized and feel completed.
Because Noel’s classmates were experiencing similar personal and academic experiences,
Noel felt connected to and validated by his peers because his peers were working just as hard.
Noel felt connected, understood, and confident. He reported fostering a sense of belonging at his
college campus in a way that improved his learning and ultimate college experience.
Jesse talked about using his other Hispanic peers as academic support instead of his
instructors because he could speak in Spanish to them and connected with the slang or jargon
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used to understand the material better. He added that he perceived some of his core instructors as
uncaring and mean, but eventually the student-built enough rapport with them that he persisted
through the semesters. He noted:
Well bro, considering my current academic experience and situation, it doesn’t take a
genius to figure out why first-generation college students such as myself who don’t fit the
traditional college student profile feels so intimidated and alienated by today’s college
culture. You know . . . so when us first generation Latinos enter any higher education
campus, [we] were confronted with bad and unhealthy practices or behaviors that are hard
to undo along with the new beliefs and practices to program in our mind that perhaps
don’t fit well with our Latin culture. In other words, most nontraditional first-gen students
like me felt forced to adapt and/or transitioned to a new “Americanized” culture, what-
ever the hell that means.
Jesse perceived learning as something that he could mastered regardless of how he felt or
how he was viewed at his own campus; and for him to be successful, he had to make endless
efforts and sacrifices so that he could successfully transfer to a 4-year institution. Through his
classmates, he was able to better explain the classroom material and was able to mentor and tutor
other Latin peers based on the feedback he received though his own tutoring and mentoring
experience. Jesse created a sense of belonging for himself and peers through the collaboration and
hardships that they shared and overcame together.
Títo also discussed his educational experience:
Yeah, man, I look up other older Latino professionals like the ones you see on the Spanish
news cast on Univision or Telemundo . . . yeah . . . you can tell by how they speak and
dress that they have a college education, and not to mention, the network connections they
must have. Well, I can only assume that there’s many perks that come with having a
professional college title.
Ruben wanted to be a competent elementary school teacher; and observing other similar
Latino male students in his core classes with the same major, around his age or younger, only
motivated him to accomplish his dream career. He consulted with the other male students and
used their study ethic and motivation to influence his drive, regardless of the age difference:
93
Yeah, sir, you know, I believe that in order to be an inspiring bilingual and culturally
competent elementary teacher, you must be confident and driven . . . because those future
kids that we, or I’m about to teach one day . . . those young students’ lives will be in
my/our hands . . . their future and lives will depend on how we/I deliver their education
lectures, and how creative we/I get as a teacher leader. So, when I was observing a class-
room as part of one of my assignments, I saw how unique and engaging one male teacher
was during his lecture. I totally saw myself doing just that, because knowing that my
career goals will allow a better life for myself and family. Regardless of what racist
agenda President Trump has hidden to hold back Latinos . . . I’m going to prove a point
by becoming a Latino role model and inspire young students of color to fight racism and
bigotry.
Ruben’s classmates who were within his major indirectly inspired and influenced Ruben
to want to teach creatively as opposed to the “traditional way”—not just to make a difference but
to give his students a memorable and fun-filled childhood educational experience. Ruben’s
teammates taught him to focus and engage on what was going on around him during the
in-classroom observation because it inspired him to pursue a teaching career. It also taught him
that he could be a changemaker and that being a changemaker, especially as a male and a Latino,
could be as simple as taking his creative ideas and doing something with them. Therefore, being
around other students with the same major provided Ruben with validation, because in order for
him to better understand how all the aspects of his learning could come together in a real-life
situation, Ruben used his observational learning skills and visited a Latino male teacher who
inspired his decision to become an inspiring teacher himself.
Classroom–Faculty Environment
Pedro explained that the interactions and relationships that he established with some of
his community college instructors played a significant role that built his confidence as a student.
Pedro noted that many of his instructors maximized his learning potential that he used toward
overcoming many of his academic fears such as anxiety, improving poor study habits, and
eventually improving his overall academic performance. Pedro emphasized that his student–
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teacher rapport was paramount in fostering his academic success and provided him with valida-
tion:
As a graduating student, everything I did in and outside the classroom setting had an
influence that derived from the values and principles that I modeled from amazing
instructors who impacted how I facilitated my life as a student and a Latino male in
society. In other words, the in-class and faculty validation reshaped who I am and how I
engaged and relate towards others. I believe that I am prepared to transfer to UC Santa
Cruz and pursue my BA in psychology and apply all the interpersonal tools and resources
I gained in class.
Considering that there is a spectrum of learning styles, instead of a one-style teaching
approach, the instructor used different teaching styles instead of using a “one-size-fits-all”
approach so that all students could benefit from the concepts and materials in a way that was
conceptual, educational, accommodating, and fair. Therefore, the teacher-centered versus student-
centered instruction was practical and manageable for students like Pedro, who benefitted from
the learning process, thus making this approach champions student choice by facilitating connec-
tions among SOCs within the college setting. Charlie also framed his internal classroom support
and experience as validating and intimate as well. He described one elective revolving around the
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex (LGBTQI) issues, equality, queer
of color, and coming-out experience and reported feeling inspired and motivated to engage as he
felt connected to the class:
At first, I wasn’t sure what exactly this class will cover, or what would I walk away with
at the end. Surprisingly, I was able to connect with the instructor who was a queer Latina/
lesbian instructor who got nothing but love and respect from all my classmates, who
responded well to her lectures and seemed to respect the instructor for being authentic. . . .
The instructor classroom was a safe space for discussion and other queer students like me
to feel free of criticism and be ourselves. . . . This instructor made me feel validated and
connected to the classroom in a way that I learned. I evolved and further explored my
identity and sexuality through her charismatic style of teaching and lectures.
Charlie expressed that most of his courses were seminar-based classes consisting of at
least 200 students and recognized that a large classroom environment promoted disengagement
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and isolation, thus encouraging a lack of involvement. Charlie’s counselor helped him to find
smaller discussions or seminar type lessons better suited to his learning style and needs. He
reported that whenever he enrolled seminar style courses, they created less social situations
compared to previous courses and made him feel inadequate—almost as if he was cheated out of
his education. He further added that he neither learned nor engaged well in that type of academic
setting. Charlie added that in the LGBTQI course that he took, he felt connected and validated
due to his contributions. He noted that the instructor would allow each student to express them-
selves concerning certain topics and that the instructor dedicated her efforts toward her specific or
intimate life experiences related to the coming-out process. He further stated that the discussions
allowed him to add relevant content to the debate connecting his real-life experiences with
respect to the instructor’s theoretical lectures.
Theme 2: Machismo and Asking for Help
Charlie felt that at times, he would avoid asking for help or clarity when he was not sure
of something and admitted feeling inadequate due to his insecurities, machismo, or being pride-
ful. He shared relying on his monolithic feelings to express himself, even when the overbearing
feelings of fear and anxiety were related to his insecurities due to being underprepared when
encountering intellectual subjects or topics when asked to answer or participate. The desire to
thrive in college was motivated by participants’ willingness to persist in college by balancing
college responsibilities with work and family. As in Enrique’s case, Charlie conveyed that his
learning style consisted of male-to-male support, advising, and guidance. Enrique noted that he
felt acknowledged when his efforts and academic progress were recognized and validated, espe-
cially when his classroom peers made him feel welcome, neutral, and part of the classroom
community. However, in terms of his masculinity construct and its effect on college experiences,
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Enrique reported that his family expectations were making his goal attainment challenging to
achieve because his parents were demanding that he get a job, make money, and contribute to the
family expenses while still completing his education. Enrique felt an array of pressures from his
family and other Latino peers and focused on self-reliance; gaining status, social, and upward
mobility. He felt obligated to support his family as he navigated through college as a male and as
a student, Enrique thought the social expectations for him were constant and amplified by the
daunting and demanding nature of his college experience.
Examples were provided by both Rodolfo and Tito of times when instructors during class
time made them feel connected, respected, and inspired. Tito made reference to his instructor:
My favorite professor I’ve ever had was here at the community college. . . She’s a PhD,
Latina, and a lesbian . . . in the School of Social Sciences. She . . . she’s by far one of the
brightest, inspiring, and coolest individuals I’ve ever met. She’s empowering and a great
role model for Latinos, LGBTQI students, women, women of color . . . she got her PhD.
This woman not only teaches with passion . . . I would leave her classroom feeling ful-
filled as a student, and she literally engages her feelings into her lectures because she
cares that her students are learning and evolving intellectually.
Tito left this classroom feeling cared for and looked after by the professor, who demon-
strated good attention and compassion toward him and the rest of the students. Since day 1 at the
beginning of the semester, this professor introduced herself smartly and was clear about her goals
and expectations for all students. She made sure that all students left her class with a new per-
spective on how gender and theory reshape the world; from the beginning of the term, the profes-
sor demonstrated authenticity and humility, which made her teaching unique and memorable.
3The professor that Tito referenced incorporated pop-culture icons as a strategy to engage and
reduce her students’ anxiety. The benefits of using pop-culture in a college English course to
teach any assignment were found to be useful and practical for FGLMs’ learning. Tito’s percep-
tion of this professor was a positive one due to her creative instructional style that enabled
97
students like himself to engage, learn, and overcome some of their academic barriers that
decreased after passing her class. These types of lectures can be advantageous to incorporate
popular culture into college-level literacy instruction because SOCs appreciate the lectures and
benefit from them. Pop-culture exposure does not impede a college education for students; how-
ever, it is a large part of what students specifically associate with when they are trying to make
relevant references to recent current affairs or whatever is trending. This way SOCs from all
developmental levels can flourish and become engaged in literacy. Tito felt that the professor’s
class was a place where all students could interact with one another and where all creative minds
converged and constructed visions of new realities for a better tomorrow:
She’s just real talk . . . she’s from the ‘hood, so I can relate to her at so many levels. I feel
understood and validated, and vice versa. . . . I walk in her class . . . we make eye contact
. . . and I don’t feel pressured to have to articulate and formulate my sentences in a certain
way like I do in some of my White professor classes. I can fully express myself, and I
don’t feel hostile and/or judged. . . . First-gen students like myself feel the need to sacri-
fice our culture in order to succeed in PWI colleges like this one. While we don’t need to
lose our cultural heritage, we do need to learn how to sacrifice or compromise for the time
while we are in college in order to grow as young adults and move ahead.
Tito shared that after taking a class on gender roles, media literacy, queer sexuality, sexu-
ality, race, ethnicity, LGBTQ, history involving women, and queer theory, multiculturalism
taught from a feminist lens challenged him to look deeper into societal issues with the assistance
of his professor. Tito was able to understand and connect to his class. The movies, novels, and
class lectures that were part of the curriculum exposed Tito to a world of which he was com-
pletely oblivious and unaware, thereby providing him with an excellent opportunity for the future
and a new way to look at the world. One highlight of Tito’s in-classroom experience was meeting
the professor’s teaching assistant (TA), who happened to be a male Latino:
Once the professor introduced his TA, the TA then said . . . “I am here to make sure every
single one of you become critical thinkers and move from being a consumer of knowledge
to becoming a creator of knowledge and become better citizens who can contribute to the
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public service sectors.” The TA has pushed for students of color to join the teaching and
technological and sciences profession and encouraged them to go all the way and pursue a
graduate-level degree. So that right there on itself was very inspirational. How cool it felt
to hear another Latino male graduate student invest on his students.
The above comment reflected what was perceived by Tito, as the great experience pro-
vided him with the validation and confidence needed to push himself to become an inspiring
social worker. Tito’s professor provided warm affirmation and genuine care for all students’
ability to become confident and successful at what they do. Rodolfo shared that he wished that his
college’s business department would recruit and make efforts to retain Latino faculty members
because at the time of this study, the department lacked both male and female Latino professors,
especially Latino male professors. Rodolfo noted that his college requires academic advisors who
can connect with and understand students’ cultures and their struggles; he emphasized that the
missing piece to Latino students’ success was faculty members who looked like their students:
It would be so much better if there were more Latino male professors we could easily
report to on our campus. Professors of color that students of color can approach for
guidance, validation, support. Given that there are many students of color majoring in
business and who want to earn a business degree . . . or whatever. Latino male students
and women who have gravitated to the business administration major—those especially
who are first generation and want to pursue careers that add value to the community and
education is certainly enables Latinos such as myself to move up the economic ladder.
But unfortunately, Latino faculty is what our campus currently lacks, and that needs to
change in community colleges in cities like L.A. We need faculty of color that’s Latino or
whatever to make us feel connected and understood.
For example, only two thirds of California college students are minorities and the major-
ity of their professors are White, because leadership figures in academia have not kept up with
California’s changing demographics. Research demonstrates that when SOCs have instructors
who resemble them, they learn more. One study found that SOCs were more likely to finish
college at higher levels and more likely to attend graduate school (Harper & Williams, 2013).
Given the lack of Latino male professors at Rodolfo’s campus, he realized how difficult it was for
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him to reach out to the White faculty because there were not many faculty members of color as
counselors available for seeking help. Rodolfo stated that most of his courses were taught almost
exclusively by White faculty; he believed that if he had at least one or two male instructors, that
experience would have changed the dynamic for him. He further shared:
My perception is that the male instructors expect more out of you—more in terms of
quality work, more commitment, and engagement in the class lectures. You instantly start
seeing them as your homie, a role model like, a close friend, family.
Rodolfo’s experience demonstrated that there was a sense of void due to not having enough
instructors of color who would have made a difference in contributing to his college experience
and providing a source of validation for Rodolfo.
Jesse also shared some of the invalidating experiences he encountered inside and out of
the classroom. He talked about the noticeable shortage of instructors of color in the departments
of modern languages and literature. This issue had become a disservice and an invalidating
experience that will potentially cause perceptions of alienation for men young men of color,
particularly Latino male students:
As a first-generation Latino male student at a community college whose parents did not
have any formal education or experience, I particularly feel disadvantaged by the lack of
guidance and information that other White students have built into their lives since their
childhood. I feel that first-generation male students have a lot of catching up to do, and it
does not help when your college campus lacks professors of color, particularly professors
who teach courses around the major your studying.
The lack of representation among professors of color, particularly Latino male professors
in Jesse’s department, left him with a negative opinion of the American higher education system.
He believed that there were not enough SOCs in the pipeline for college teaching positions and
jobs that require a higher level of education. Noel described his in-class invalidation experience
as follows:
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As a community college student who pays attention to my surroundings and everything
else that I come across, while acknowledging the scarcity of students of color in some
fields . . . such as the health and sciences or biology . . . [College A] has great numbers of
PhDs professors in the life and sciences and yet . . . we still don’t have great representa-
tion of diversity among these adjunct staff and faculties.
Pedro expressed that many of his White teachers unintentionally did not build a favorable
classroom environment for SOCs like himself; consequently, his experience in the classroom was
not as validating and as relaxed, thus making him feel left out and invisible. He believed that his
in-class experiences, voice, and perspectives were not valued as much as they were for other non-
Latino students:
As a student . . . I honestly feel that it is each faculty member’s greatest responsibility to
treat every college student as an individual, adult, and as students . . . and to always focus
on the learning success of each student by treating us with integrity.
Pedro shared that his in-classroom experiences made him feel as if the classroom climate
lacked equity, this affecting his willingness to engage and perform to the best of his ability as a
SOC. Not surprisingly, the adjunct staff at Colleges A and B were mostly White and male domi-
nant, in comparison to the general student population that mainly consisted of underrepresented
African Americans and Hispanics—SOCs. At Colleges A and B, there were more foreign teach-
ers than Black and Hispanic professors combined. Discussion of this subject provided various
personal examples of how participants experienced validation, as well as the times when they did
not feel validated. Participants provided direct instances when they felt that their professors
expressed genuine concern and care for their students and their future careers, and they shared
unique times when they felt supported and validated. Validation within the classroom was
provided by individual examples, each of which reflected specific scenarios that took place at
different times.
When asked about being a member of any student organization, Tony responded:
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Uhh, nah . . . not really, since I’m not on campus a lot and most of my spare time is spent
going to class . . . and going straight to work soon after. I either go home or go to work, or
if I’m done, then I’ll go home, nap, and get energized and motivated to do the homework
and/or study. . . . As a student I think that my college should have more programs that are
needed that emphasize the Latino subgroup experience. . . . Perhaps my college adminis-
trators can include specialized training for staff who deals with Latinos, particularly first-
generation Latino male students like myself, so that we can benefit and be successful once
we do transfer.
Not having enough time during school hours, FGLMs were missing out on opportunities
that could supplement and add value to their college career as students, consequently making
them feel stressed, unmotivated, and drained from a long day on campus. This result demon-
strates how FGLMs have sacrificed everything for their studies as they continued to meet their
family needs and expectations, possibly increasing the amount of time it took them to finish and
transfer to a college of their choice, once accepted. Latinos are more likely to enroll in community
colleges than their White counterparts; however, a significant difference between SOCs such as
Latino students and their White counterparts is their choice of college. The option of where White
and Latino students pursue their college careers (Martinez & Fernández, 2004) suggests that
additional research should be underway focusing on whether colleges and universities, along with
policymakers, should do more to attract high-achieving Latino students to their selective colleges
and universities, where their chances of graduation are guaranteed and their future success would
be more promising compared to those who enrolled at a community college.
Theme 3: Out-of-Classroom Validation
For this study, validation was positively internalized and received in various ways outside
of the classroom by all participants. Mentors, family, and counselors validated participants in
various forms and styles. They made them all feel empowered and capable of graduating and
moving forward to become future leaders and helped students to identify the areas where they
needed to make changes to be successful in whichever profession they chose as a career. Findings
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from this study provided proof that the participants appreciated the guidance they received and
were inspired by people who helped them to reach their academic and professional objectives.
On-Campus Involvement
During the data collection, on-campus involvement was another subtheme that developed
throughout the interviews and discussions within all 10 participants. Many referred to the on-
campus student resource centers as centers that provided them with a sense of validation in their
college education and experience. Charlie explained that
as a freshman and as a first-generation student here at [College B], I had to adjust to an
overwhelmingly White environment, where most of my classroom peers did not qualify
for financial aid and who were financially being assisted by their parents. Therefore, it
was easy to feel isolated . . . especially in the classroom. Outside of classroom I sur-
rounded myself with other Latino students I met during the West L.A. Summer Bridge
program that I was a part of. These friends were mostly underrepresented students such as
myself within L.A. County who were flagged to benefit from that summer bridge program
101. . . . That summer program resonated with me, it confirmed with my comfort level as
it only motivated me to belong here.
Charlie shared feeling emerged, confirmed, and validated as a Latino and as a student
because that summer program allowed him to express his excitement and fears. The program
provided him not only with “a-home-away-from-home” type of environment but also with space
where he was connected with cultural, academic, and mentoring supportive resources and helped
him to make friends with common ground. In the course of all of Charlie’s engagements, he also
joined a Latino organization on campus and mentioned that his involvement resulted in positive
outcomes:
Being part of MECHA [Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán La Asociación] [that]
works tirelessly to ensure that the community college responds appropriately to incidents
such as occasions when foolish and/or insensitive marketing material for an off-campus
affair mocks Latino/Mexican culture. The truth is, when one of us gets disrespected/
insulted, we all do. I’m glad there’s a support system in place here at [College B]. . . .
Enrolling in college was my next big step soon after high school, but I did not know what
that would entail until I became an active student. I came to realize that I was not just
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taking classes to earn an AA degree and transfer, but I was also beginning to understand
the importance of networking and social capital, and this was just the beginning for me.
For Charlie, establishing connections and trust with his peers provided him with the
ability to seek personal and academic guidance and was an essential element for the networking
and socializing opportunities and support. Charlie was fortunate to attend a community college
with adequate finances, support, and academic resources; and he earned decent grades. He was
involved with extracurricular activities, which resulted in a higher level of satisfaction that, in
turn, increased his level of institutional commitment. Charlie emphasized the importance of
inclusion and trustworthiness among Latino college students in terms of how they persist,
develop, and make meaning of their sense of belonging on a college campus where their racial
identity and culture are recognized and valued by other SOCs.
All 10 participants had a wide range of recommendations for other Latino male students
and community colleges to consider. Some of these thoughts included having clear expectations,
role modeling, setting goals, and reviewing current academic programs that were offered to
Latino students. Three participants focused on the concept of role models and mentors. Jesse
commented more in depth about making connections at his college:
I believe that the biggest influence is to have a connection, you know . . . a personal con-
nection with other students. . . . I had personal connection with a few professors that I
really got to know of the past 2 years . . . no doubt that makes it effective and better. . . .
The uniqueness makes a difference when you learn how to cope with anything advisable
in your academic lives. Having a connection with someone or an on-campus organization
makes you feel more productive as a student. We all have difficult situations to deal with,
and if we are not connected to others or if we aren’t a part of a student organization such
as a fraternity or sorority—thankfully I’m a part of an honor fraternity, and my fraternity
brothers validate me through sharing common grounds culturally and academically.
Immediate Family Support
The most recurrent theme and primary focus for all participants was a focus on family
values, orientation, and unity and an emphasis on how these roles played out in their academic
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experience. Familia (family) is a priority in the lives of FGLMs and played a considerable role in
their motivation to persist in college. Latinos value and encourage education for the purpose of
thriving in life and building human capital, because by enabling FGLMs to realize their potential
as productive members of society, the rest of the environment is benefitted by accelerating the
demographic transition and by reducing poverty among the Latino population.
Latino parents can be supportive of their children’s education. It is important to note that
for some Latino parents, it has been a financial burden to help to pay for their children’s college
education. Therefore, their children must make it clear that they are willing to sacrifice and take
their education seriously enough so that their parents can contribute financially to the extent that
they are able to do so. Even if their parents do not necessarily have the means to pay for their
children’s college expenses. FGLMs are faced with an array of barriers as they persist in college.
They rely on their parents or loved ones for support to overcome their challenges and move
forward with their goals and aspirations. In this study, the immediate family was reported to be a
validating agent for most participants, at times counteracting their invalidating experiences on
campus. Enrique shared:
I remember my grandfather always encouraged me to never give up in life and pursue an
education, and it didn’t matter what type of education as long as it improved my lifestyle
and that it was promising to keep me employed, and stuff like that. I mean, my grandpar-
ents had great military job and were now retired and living comfortably, but I was
attending college anyway. There was never no doubt in anyone’s mind that I was going to
do anything less. Almost everyone in family is a college graduate; therefore, I always felt
supported and validated, which contributed to my drive to do well.
Enrique’s grandparents instilled confidence and internal drive for him at a young age, and
he now pursued his bachelor’s degree as his next goal. Until he graduated, the grandparents
would continue to support and encourage him. Also, Tony’s father was a factor because he made
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sure that both of his sons strived and were responsible with their academics and obtained as many
degrees:
My biggest support has always been my father and younger brother, who looks up after
me. . . . I’m trying to not only earn good grades but pave the way for him to follow and do
better than me. Um, I feel that there’s more pressure on me to lead the way and lead by
example, and that pressure comes from both my father and brother. . . . They do it in a
way that’s motivating and encouraging, and that is all I need to do well, I guess. My father
was it . . . you know, any extra cash that he did have was invested into sending me to
Catholic private school. . . . I didn’t live in a very economical advantaged area in the San
Fernando Valley, so public schools weren’t very good in that area that we lived. . . . Dad
decided that he would pour his money into sending me to private schools to make sure
that I received a good quality religious education. And that was drilled to me. My
grandmother was a professor in Mexico when she lived there, and she thought education
was first and foremost and should always be a priority.
Given that Tony’s father did not attend college, he made it clear through his influence and
motivation the importance of getting an education and pushing forward. Tony’s father and
younger brother had built a sense of support for Tony ever since he started college; they had
become his support, inspiration, and foundation of validation until he finished his college career.
Noel also described and shared that his stepmother was an integral part of his college
career:
My stepmother has been my foundation and reason why I am doing so well in college. . . .
I’ll never forget that she’s the reason why I came this far. . . . She migrated to this country
so that I can do better and thrive to success, which is something she was not able to do
due to economical reason. She showed me that getting an education is important only
because I am her only hope and she wants me to be okay. . . . She has always been there
for me since prekinder; she has always been part of every experience; she has validated
every effort I’ve made.
Noel acknowledged and highlighted the type of influence that his stepmother had been for him in
terms of how her involvement contributed toward his education. He was aware of the distinct
drawback he had because his mother did not attend college, which placed him at a disadvantage
in his subsequent admission, in graduation, and in his continuing freedom after his college edu-
cation. He added:
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My stepmother always made it clear that without a college education, our options will
slim and, therefore, she encouraged me to stay patient and to not give up. Mom was not
that parent who pressured me to decide what I wanted to go to school for and shove
college down my throat. I also just want to prove Trump wrong by becoming a productive
citizen and pay my taxes. I want to make a political and cultural statement that Latinos are
brave and smart.
Noel mentioned that his mother’s support influenced his persistence with his studies, thus
enabling him to finish his AA degree:
My stepmother worked two jobs to make sure I did not have to take on loans and be able
to not worry about any financial burdens that most students encounter while in college. I
made sure I was engaged in my studies only because of the sacrifices my stepmother was
making for me.
Noel emphasized that all of the sacrifices his family had made for him had not gone unnoticed.
His goal was to stay focused, to do well in college, and to transfer to his dream college. He had no
ambition other than to accomplish his academic goal. Noel added that his stepmother feared that
once he veered away from a college, there was a high chance that he would not go back.
Rodolfo noted that his older sister and President Trump played a considerable role in the
pursuit of a college career. He explained:
President Trump racially charged comments towards Latinos only motivated me to do
better, prove him and his followers wrong by becoming the opposite of what they’re
perception is of us. . . . Also, my biggest fan and biggest influence is my oldest sister,
who’s always told me that I have to fight, hustle, and to do my best, no matter how com-
plicated things got for me along my journey. . . . She never made me feel pressured or
anything to go to college, but because I’m a guy, I guess [it] is expected that I meet the
cultural gender expectations within my family.
Rodolfo’s college experience reinforced his manhood, worldviews, self-expectations, and
responsibilities to family pressured him to persist and graduate. The importance that Rodolfo’s
sister placed on a college education was something that was in place even before Rodolfo
graduated from high school. Rodolfo shared that when he felt insecure about himself, he would
reflect and think about not wanting to let his family and culture down, mainly because he wants to
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prove President Trump wrong. He shared, “I cannot wait to start Cal-Berkeley next spring
semester, graduate, and to contribute towards my family expenses and travel the world.” Rodolfo
mentioned that his cousin also influenced his motivation because the cousin was always validat-
ing him through encouragement, support, and praise. Rodolfo felt that the support that he re-
ceived from both his sister and cousin contributed toward his achievements, a strong GPA, and
transferring to the University of California, Berkeley. The struggles that he encountered while a
community college student helped to reshape his self-confidence that, in turn, allowed him to try
new things. He dealt better with disappointments that happened while overcoming academic and
personal obstacles. He reported becoming more successful at handling stress, relating to others,
and achieving his educational goals.
For Jesse, his family was a huge support for him in doing well academically and in
successfully starting at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), about which his family
were very excited:
Unfortunately, my immediate family don’t quite understand what I been through as a
student here at [College A]. All they know is that I will stay up pass midnight . . . like
every other night, cramming for midterms and finals for the past 3 years. . . . All they ever
did to validate my commitment towards my studies was provide me with praising and
motivation such as . . . “You got this, . . . you got this . . . you’re a smart guy—you can do
it.” . . . But it doesn’t really go . . . beyond, past those type of encouragements ‘cause they
don’t know what it takes to study hard to the point I made it into UCLA.
Jesse valued the continued support that his family and friends had offered him since he
enrolled in the community college’s (College A) set of courses. As a FGLM, Jesse started college
with mixed feelings such as feeling insecure, scared, excited, and anxious. Jesse struggled to
obtain academic support at home, even though no one in his family could relate or had been in his
shoes; therefore, they could not provide him with the basic tutoring and support that he needed to
perform well as a student. Jesses shared:
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I’m sure that people like parents who didn’t go to college, and the process of having a
child in college must’ve been scary and sad because they wanted me to do well and to
succeed, and I am sure they didn’t know where to start and/or how to provide me with
help. . . . I always told my parents that they are not alone, that there are other parents such
as my friends’ parents who are also in the same position . . . therefore . . . hopefully my
parents will feel better and didn’t worry as much! As a first-generation son . . . student . . .
my college has developed plenty of resources to make sure that I do well.
Charlie relied on his family support as a source of motivation and validation. His grand-
mother was an inspiration, and believed that his immediate family influenced his education and
affected it in the following way:
So . . . in a way I had no other choice . . . it was either college or the military. . . . I had no
choice but to go to college. My grandmother would tell me since junior high school,
“You’re going to college and that’s final!” She was direct . . . determined . . . and . . .
adamant about what was expected from me.
The expectations that Charlie’s grandmother had for him were to pursue a college educa-
tion and eventually earn a PhD; his long-term goal was to become an educator. That statement
reassured Charlie that he was capable of being determined and successful by providing him with
the confidence to apply to a west coast Ivy League” institution such as Stanford University. At the
time of this study, his admission status was pending.
Well, I believe that my grandmother’s hard work, love, passion and dedication for educa-
tion instill in me an appreciation to value and respect an education, because getting an
education here in America is luxury that many individuals don’t have . . . so my grand-
mother positive influence and love for an education has inspired me to be like her and
have the same motto and respect for education that I have even considered becoming a
professor and aimed towards a PhD.
Considering that Charlie’s grandmother did not attend college herself, the grandmother
raised him as an only child, overcoming many life challenges and sacrificing for him to have a
better life and career. However, she inspired Charlie to keep going beyond to achieve his long-
term target of finally receiving a doctoral degree. Any family member’s support to conquer his
barriers to earn an AA degree from his current college provided him with validation and motiva-
tion.
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Because support is so important, there is no shortage of advice out there for parents or
caregivers who want only to be supportive and advocate for their children. Charlie added:
One thing that happened to me last semester was experiencing a cultural transition. I
remembered receiving a C- on one of my midterm response papers, and I did not know
how to approach my well-spoken White professor for feedback and help. So . . . I paid
him a visit, and upon entering his office . . . I completely felt not only intimidated but
insecure to address my confusion for the low grade I received. Although I was intelligent
enough to be in that AP [advanced placement] literature class, I still wondered during that
semester if I really belonged in that class. So, I didn’t know what he will think of me as a
Latino student who was requesting an explanation for his grade.
SOCs were taught to be constantly aware of others and themselves when it came to
academic survival, and that is why many SOCs such as Charlie expressed the sentiment of
choosing not to be mentored by White staff at the campus. Charlie felt that the faculty at his
college might not have experienced the sexism, racism, homophobia, and classism that he had at
various points of his life. He felt that in seeking to understand him and his issues as a SOC, the
faculty might not be able to connect and holistically understand his perspective on specific topics.
Hence Charlie instead asked his peers for academic and personal tutoring and advice because they
would relate more to his struggles during his studies. Discussions about the lack of academic
success of first-generation Latino students tended to lead to discussions about external factors
within community colleges, such as FGLMs’ academic performance and inadequate preparation
as well as lack of family and economic support for them. As far as feeling validated outside of the
classroom was concerned, all 10 participants considered familia (family) an essential element that
contributed to their validation outside of the classroom.
All participants shared that their families provided encouragement, support, and account-
ability since their Head Start/prekindergarten up to college. Therefore, participants shared that
graduating from college was the best that they could accomplish, as expected from their families,
and explained that they were all supposed to be leaders. Many participants felt they were
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overachievers for the sake of proving to individuals such as President Trump that their efforts and
the efforts of their parents, and family established their place in the United States. The confi-
dence, love, and validation provided all participants with the ability to construct their success. As
a sign of gratitude, all participants were making something of themselves to contribute to this
great country that they now called home. Jesse noted that
my parents view education very solidly . . . for example, dad did not attend beyond middle
school, let alone college . . . he made it to six grade. My mother only made elementary
school level . . . therefore, they both feel that an education is the key beyond a working
class job. . . . A degree will open more doors to opportunities that will advance to other
elite positions in the workforce . . . leading to more qualified and successful and respected
leadership roles in government to lead the future.
Parents of FGLMs want their children to fulfill their aspirations and to become more
successful in life than what they (the parents) had achieved through their minimal amount of
schooling. Such desires were one of the key inspirational factors for parents who valued their
children. While many parents could not or did not contribute to their children’s schooling aca-
demically and financially, they gave exceptional and valuable support in numerous other ways.
Mentors
All participants in this study were supported and appreciated by their families, colleagues,
and peers, who displayed sincere consideration, which was perceived as validation and praise by
participants. Some participants provided instances in which academic or instrumental mentors
played a role in their progress as they navigated through their community college experience as
FGLMs. Tito shared one example of when his advisor made him feel very proud through the
direct validation and praise he received due to his honors courses and high GPA in his social
science classes. Tito contemplated changing his major at the last minute and had consulted with
his advisor who disagreed and persuaded Tito not to change:
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I mentioned to one of my counselors that . . . “I’m considering changing my major to the-
ater arts since I rather study a career where I can incorporate my humor and be emotion-
ally creative, but I’m not sure” . . . And she look at me like, “At this point you might as
well finish your current social work program and considering some self-reflection . . .
determine the level of attention, challenge, and how a stretch of a major will have on you,
and on your time as a student . . . Just think ahead and don’t lose credits. Be smart about
changing and selecting a major.” . . . Therefore, that highlight was enough for me to feel
mentally encouraged and motivated. . . . Her words and experiences planted a mental seed
in me to stick to what I’m good and passionate at.
Tito’s counselor provided him with positive reinforcement, such as acknowledgment and
praise, once he shared his aspirations and long-term academic goals. The counselor provided
validation toward his experience through encouragement, reminding him that he must slow down
as frequently as possible and pay attention to his individual needs in order to be his best self.
Tito’s counselor reiterated self-care, nurturing, and trust that empowered and validated these
students’ efforts.
Rodolfo’s experience was like Tito’s. Rodolfo articulated all of the academic challenges
and insecurities that he experienced as a freshman. Rodolfo’s mentor was not only a support
system but a great advisor who guided him during difficult times at his college. This mentor
wrote him letters of recommendation to all the private universities to which he had applied during
the previous semester; he had continues to be a source of support in Rodolfo’s life:
This mentor reassured me that I will be fine. I always felt safe and cared for when I felt
unsure and/or insecure about who I was as a student. My grades fluctuated every
semester; however this mentor challenged my insecurities and normalized my fears and
worries when it came to me figuring out why I was feeling lost. His response to me was
often, “Your grades are imperative, of course; however they do not determine and/or
frame you, and you must stop it from mentally framing you because the American grading
system is based on oppression, a system that was not built for you, so please change your
mindset around.
Rodolfo shared that his mentor was a motivation factor as to why he felt empowered and
confident during the last semester at his college. Whenever Rodolfo was around his mentor, he
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felt validated, accepted, understood, supported, and pushed to graduate college and to continue
his undergraduate studies at Barry University in Miami, Florida:
If it wasn’t for my high school buddies whom I’ve gotten closer with ever since starting
[College B], I wouldn’t of finished on time and/or had an amazing experience, because it
wasn’t an easy experience . . . and it’s easy to get discouraged when you are doing it
alone, have a low GPA, and/or when your grades aren’t as high as your peers. Low grades
had an influence on my low motivation and discouragement each semester.
Rodolfo’s mentor assisted him in understanding the rigorous expectations of the 4-year institution
and its curriculum and was able and willing to help him to adequately prepare for his transfer to
the next college. His mentor normalized his fears and anxiety and helped him to understand that
his overall GPA had no bearing on what he could accomplish. The mentor validated him as an
individual who had what it took to persist through his studies until he received his bachelor’s
degree. Although Rodolfo understood that due to being a FGLM, he started college feeling
uncomfortable in the community college atmosphere. He understood that he came from a differ-
ent cultural background and SES and had different college-level preparation than his college
peers. Rodolfo reiterated his perceptions and experiences of hostile student–faculty interactions
in a semi-negative college climate. He reported experiencing limited cross-racial communications
that led to him to his negative self-concept sense of belonging, which almost led him to drop out
of college.
Pedro noted that he received support from his Extended Opportunity Programs and
Services (EOP&S)-assigned mentor for over 3 years. This mentor advocated for him when Pedro
felt that he was struggling academically or when he was short on funds to pay for college-related
expenses. Pedro shared that this mentor supported him throughout his college experience. He
explained that when he was ready to transfer to a 4-year institution during the application process,
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he was unable to pay the pricy college application fee. Subsequently, the EOP&S staff stepped in
and advocated for him to obtain funding thought the EOP&S program funds:
My EOP&S mentor and I became acquainted and established a strong bond . . . He was
able to relate and identify to my struggles and academic challenges and has always been
there for me and did an amazing, noble job advocating for me when I most needed help.
His assistance and guidance demonstrated [to] me that I was able to rely on him and reach
out to him for anything. . . . He was like a big brother . . . he made my college expenses
nonexistent.
Not only did Pedro’s EOP&S mentor validate and help by showing Pedro that his per-
sonal growth and academic ideas were taken into account and respected, but he also made him
feel like a good and capable student who would go far in life. Among the various forms of
support that Pedro received during his community college years, Pedro defined his mentor as the
“bright guy” and his compadre who embraced his desire to transfer to a 4-year institution, such as
the University of California, Berkeley. Pedro felt that he would like to keep in contact with this
mentor during the long run:
I will always keep this mentor in a special place in my mind and heart. . . . I will never
forget of all the life lessons he thought me while he was mentoring me as a student. He
made my college experience more at ease, less expensive. . . . He left a huge impact in my
life . . . he was very instrumental and encouraging.
Pedro shared that his mentor provided validations in ways that empowered him to pursue his
degree at a PWI in Berkeley. Pedro noted that his mentor was highly educated, held an EdD
degree, and was someone who genuinely cared about students, particularly SOCs.
Enrique mentioned a mentor who encouraged him at his campus while he pursued his AA
degree. Enrique shared that his mentor was highly educated and went out of his way to guide
many students:
I admired and look up to him. He is . . . reliable and very intelligent and educated . . .
which makes him inspiring. . . . This mentor is from a farming community. . . . He put
himself through college and did not gave up until he accomplished his PhD. . . . He is
modest, has humility. . . . He will schedule any student regardless of his busy and hectic
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schedule and lifestyle. . . . He genuinely cares for students . . . particularly students of
color. . . . I lost count how many times he made time for me whenever I was feeling down
or depressed, or just simply stressed out due to school work. . . . I wish many professors at
this community college were as opened as him. . . . It’s not fair for many other students
that I personally know who wish they had an adult role model, particularly a professor of
color who they could rely on to discuss academic and cultural issues here on campus.
In addition, one of Enrique’s economics TAs provided him with academic and encourage-
ment to ensure that he was on the right path towards his goals:
As a student, it was good that the assigned mentor was a great role model while I was
struggling with many of my courses, and towards the end of my last semester here at
[College B], . . . he made sure he looked and reviewed all of my personal statements
before I submitted them to all 12 institutions I planned on transferring to next semester. . .
. He made sure I was well connected with all EOP&S programs at all institutions so that I
won’t have to worry a lot. . . . My mentor has a Master’s Degree in Social Work, and he
works at the student counseling services, and . . . I really think he cares about each stu-
dent’s mental health and future. . . . I accomplished a lot and will not give up . . . because
if I fail . . . then I will let down many individuals such as this mentor who helped me . . .
you know . . . it will be very disappointing.
When Enrique applied to his selected 4-year institutions, he credited his mentor for
having spent the one-on-one quality time that made a difference in his academic performance that
helped him to develop his confidence, maturation, and leadership skills. Enrique observed that
there was a slight disconnection between the fundamental ways that his community college func-
tioned and what students like himself reported needed to perform to transfer successfully to the
next chapter of their academic path. The commitment that Enrique’s mentor had made in his
academic performance not only validated him as a student but also allowed Enrique to grow to be
a potential future leader and role model for others one day.
As one of the few students to get admitted to Brown University for the fall of 2018, it was
surprising that a mentor in his field of study was not assigned to Raul. Raul claimed that not
having an actual advisor of any sort made him feel unsure; he expressed that an experienced
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advisor or mentor would have made an enormous difference. Also, as an FGLM, everything that
he learned and knew about college and university school was self-taught.
Raul shared that the lack of individualized mentoring and guidance provided a lack of
invalidation, which he perceived as “the missing link” he wished he had to assure him that he
would be okay—in other words, that he would be successful in life:
As a student, I personally was not satisfied with my community college experience, or the
way my college dealt with diversity. . . . I was never linked to a mentor, nor was I guided
by any professor within my major. . . . I strongly believe that my college needed to con-
sider their approaches, their expectations, and how they are helping meet a diverse student
population’s needs, particular of international students who I’m sure need the most
guidance . . . including families that participate and value their students’ learning and
decision making.
When asked what his family and parents though about him going to college, Raul
responded:
It’s crazy frustrating that my family doesn’t understand and/or get it! Particularly my
parents, who would never know why I do the things I do as a student . . . the long projects
. . . the many hours in the library studying with my friends, nor how hard it is to consis-
tently get excellent grades. How could they know if they never attended college them-
selves? . . . I didn’t feel validated through my parents . . . however, I felt better understood
by my classmates and the TA, who was always accessible and resourceful whenever any
of us needed help.
Raul explained that his parents interrogated him and made him feel uncomfortable about
the choices he had to make regarding his education. For Raul, having someone to consult, such as
the TA, was essential; and without having a mentor on a semester basis, Raul’s college experi-
ence seemed as if he was thriving through his academic experiences and journey on his own.
Although he mentioned receiving little validation from his immediate family, he felt understood
and validated by the TA, who helped him feel included academically in every encounter he had
with him.
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Need for Latino Male Professors
All 10 participants expressed that having male Latino professors made a significant dif-
ference while getting a college education. One EOP&S staff member shared:
Recruiting more Latino male professors has been a priority for many California commu-
nity colleges, especially those with large populations of first-generation Latino students.
And while some of those initiatives have shown signs of success, there is still a lot of
work to do, especially here in southern California. . . . You can’t be who you can’t see. . . .
For Latino male students, they often think of professors as a male-dominated profession,
and it is if they only see White professors in front of the classroom. . . . It’s gender and it’s
race. Many students of color, particularly male students, have never been encouraged to
become professionals, let alone future professors.
Indeed, in one study by Jourian (2017) on higher education policy found that the com-
munity college instructors diversity gap is stubborn. The proportional difference between Latino
professors and Latino students is expected to actually increase by 9% to about 22% by 2040. This
is because the number of Latino professors has not been increasing at a rate commensurate with
the rapid growth of Latino students, particularly in southern California. At the time of this study,
Pedro believed that SOCs in general were the majority in U.S. colleges and universities. How-
ever, as the percentage of SOCs has increased, the same is not true for adjunct professors of color,
particularly Latino male professors. Pedro explained:
I mean . . . it’s past time for the country to put a new focus on retaining and recruiting
professors of color. . . . I mean, think about it . . . the U.S. student of color population has
increased and almost every institution lags behind [with] professors of color, particularly
big institutions.
There is a troubling trend on campus that is not getting enough attention. In essence,
growth in the number of Latino professors has not kept pace with the rising of the first-generation
Latino student population. At the same time, participants noticed that the number of Black
teachers had shrunk compared to the previous 5 years. However, the disproportionate overall
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representation of Latino professors with respect to the growing number of Latino students at the
campuses of both Colleges A and B was of great concern. Tito explained:
There needs to be more mentors and role models for Latin students, particularly for first-
gen students like myself. Students need to seek out and have a personal and academic
connection with an adult outside of their immediate family, especially with a professor, or
a professor of color who believes and identify with us students. They need to ask ques-
tions and make sure others notice what we have to say towards issues or strengths related
to our community college education . . . and to be exact,.. . . Not all Latinos fit into one
model. Colleges need to treat Latinos as individuals, not as one major generalized group.
There are so many subgroups within the Latino student community, such as Puerto Rican,
Mexican, Mexican American/Chicanos, Cuban, and so on. There are also specific
regional differences between each of the Mexican subgroups. For example, Mexicans
from the southwest have different values and traditions then those Mexicans that are
perhaps from the midwest. There are differences between generations of Mexicans and
Latinos. Is the Latino a first generation who is attending college for the first time, or is it a
fifth-generation Latino who has had several family members attending college, or who’s
family never attended college until now?
While Tito finalized his last semester at College B, he hoped that in the future, College B
would implement or propose effective strategies to recruit a diverse adjunct staff to enhance the
ethnic and racial diversity faculty at his current college. Rendón (2000) emphasized that “college
students must be able to compete in a 21st century academically and technologically on a diverse
global scale, be culturally competent, and communicate effectively with people from a different
ethnic background” (p. 8). Currently, many of California’s community colleges, such as Colleges
A and B, were encouraged to increase transparency and responsiveness toward their diverse
student population for the equity of its campus community. Therefore, in efforts for these
colleges to match their current students’ demographic trends, they will have to improve their
focus on developing and using strategies to address the needs of their constituents and to intro-
duce evidence-based academic initiatives and stakeholders to promote positive collaboration to
strive for improved retention and completion rates of college students. Tito suggested that having
a sense of belonging on a campus validated all participants’ sense of belonging, especially Tito’s
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abilities to transition and fit into the campus, and to develop strong intellectual and leadership
skills that helped them all form a home away from home.
Theme 4: Internal Validation Experiences
VT establishes an appreciation toward SOCs’ personal and cultural history, thereby
demonstrating self-assurance as a way of perceiving validation. Rendón (2000) contended that a
positive and validating experience might be more critical for SOCs’ success and persistence
while persisting in a community college setting. Rendón’s (2002) VT established validation as an
alternative to integration, or as a precondition for integration where faculty, staff and peers may
reach out to students in validating ways to “rethink and reshape the causes and cures towards
improving student attrition” (p. 657).
Internal VT has emerged as a conceptual principle that can be used to appreciate under-
served students’ academic performance and their personal and academic goals. VT establishes an
appreciation of SOCs’ personal and cultural history, subsequently demonstrating self-assurance
as a way of perceiving validation. Rendón (2000) contended that a positive and validating expe-
rience might be more critical for SOCs’ success while persisting in a community college setting.
Rendón’s (2002) VT established validation as an alternative to integration or as a precondition
for integration whereby faculty, staff, and peers might reach out to students in validating ways to
“rethink and reshape the causes and cures towards improving student attrition” (p. 657). Although
several findings in this study reflected Rendón’s (2000) VT, a third theme emerged that was
neither adequately reflected in the research nor further explained among participants’ stories, thus
shaping new theoretical understandings of SOC college experiences. Throughout the interviews,
internal validation was further addressed with each individual to understand each one’s underly-
ing experience. The researcher encouraged participants to share examples of internal validation
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and to reflect on what was most meaningful to them in terms of validation and to illustrate how
their experiences played out in the classroom setting. Many participants shared that their lack of
“connectivity” or feeling “withdrawn” or “unengaged” in the classroom was due to their percep-
tion of not feeling included. Participants shared their concerns by stating that they wanted their
White professors to understand how SOCs internalize the concept of inclusion and how it played
out, in terms of learning and feeling validated by their peers, and as a form of recognition.
Giving Back and Community Obligations
As part of internal validation, giving back and community obligations constituted another
subtheme that was derived from validation. All 10 participants shared that they gave back to the
Latino student population on their college campus by providing volunteer work, tutoring, recruit-
ing new students to join student organizations, and contributing to student access by providing
affirmation and support. Tony delightfully shared that he overcame many barriers considering he
was the only Latino male student in his business degree program; he noted how education offered
him “the chance to find me and be a role model.” Tony pointed out that being a role model is not
only important but also much needed and necessary to support and promote other Latino
students’ success:
Knowing that I was the only Latino male student in many of my business courses was
uncomfortable and it felt isolating. . . . It’s been really hard, however . . . now I feel like I
know my identity and myself a lot more. . . . The more you learn about your fears, your
culture, your identity as a bilingual male in college, the more it helps you want to reach
out and empower other Latino students. . . . Whenever I got the opportunity to chat with
another Latino male student, I’ll share with them that for me it was an opportunity to be
someone in life, and in this life in particular. . . . It’s a once in a lifetime gift . . . but a
really hard gift where you have to prove yourself. . . . I tell the other male students that if
they work really hard . . . and have the right people to help them, then it can be the oppor-
tunity to offer something to their parents and love ones, something they never had. . . . I
want other Latino students to remember seeing a Latino in the business program who lend
them words of advice and brotherly guidance.
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It was significant for Tony to make a significant impact on the Latino students on his
campus, as he provided them with personal and academic support, which was an important com-
ponent that the college’s business program lacked for Latino students like Tony and others. He
further added that
reaching out to as many Latino students that want my help goes a long way. As long as I
reached out to at least one student, and that one student makes something positive with
that little guidance for a change, then boom, I did my job as a role-model. I always
suggest to other Latinos to continue my philosophy of reaching out to others by giving
back and to continue with the community outreach dream whenever they can.
Tony’s outreach toward other Latino male students and other Latino students made him feel
validated and like a proud role model at his community college.
Although Ruben was one of the few students at his teaching program at College A, he was
underrepresented in that department; however, that situation did not prevent him from contribut-
ing to the educational profession by mentoring other male students who were interested in pur-
suing a teaching career. Those students perhaps did not know that they had options, and that was
why Ruben mentored and encouraged them to explore a viable option further: “I believe that
despite the potentials to further improve student success, Latino male students in teachers’ educa-
tion programs in California remain scarce, especially here at my college.” Ruben contemplated
which professions he could tackle for the next 25 to 40 years. As someone who enjoyed reading,
he decided on teaching elementary school age children:
I believe that you can tell a lot about an individual by observing their writing style, listen-
ing to what they have to say about their outlook in life. . . . So I figured two things . . .
One: I know that I’m really going to enjoy reading my students’ papers and listen to their
speeches, presentations . . . plus I cannot wait to teach them creative art and teach them to
be compassionate and caring for things they believe in . . . and I get paid to do it. . . . Two:
As a Latino student who excelled in math and English . . . I know it makes a big differ-
ence in this country. . . . It’s one of the ways I can help my community by helping it
advance towards upward mobility. . . . I just want to make sure other students were
reached out in ways that I wasn’t reached out for guidance.
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As an education major, Ruben, age 24, in the fall of 2019, was scheduled to begin his first
part-time student teaching internship, which was required as part of his major at Colombia Uni-
versity Teachers College through a teaching certification program in a public elementary school
in a Bronx neighborhood, a historically Puerto Rican and Latino immigrant community struggling
with gentrification. Ruben reported that the elementary school where he would be interning
enrolled over 1,900 students, of whom 96% were Latino and 94% self-reported to be low income.
Ruben felt that by becoming a role model, he would be more motivated and encouraged to give
back to underserved communities. He believed that by being a male Latino teacher, he could
improve Latino students’ educational experiences in the inner cities:
Throughout my studies, I learned that one of the main reasons California is having chal-
lenges recruiting teachers of color, particularly male teachers, is due to the state strict
requirements. Many teachers’ preparation programs are keeping students from getting
into their education classes they need in order to become certified within specific subjects.
For some, it’s the high 3.5 GPA that California imposes. . . . Many potential male teachers
aren’t passing a complex ridiculous certification test. . . . Other applicants faced troubles
with the criminal background check. . . . Many of the teacher preparation coursework
need to be taken in a correct sequence in which many education major students weren’t
doing due to the poor college academic advising . . . and that’s frustrating and unfair.
Ruben’s conclusion was that students like him need earlier advising, which was some-
thing that he was barely receiving when he started his studies at College A. Ruben’s goal was to
become a better student and a better role model, as he saw those improvements after meeting with
a student mentor over the past 2 years. Ruben talked about how many community college aca-
demic advisers were so embroiled with color blindness that perhaps they did not feel comfortable
identifying with those groups. Ruben thought that California should become a prime model of the
innovative Latino male teacher when it came to teacher retention and recruitment. He further
noted that many educational teachers’ programs should create a pipeline that starts in K-12 within
inner-city public schools. Ruben was passionate and adamant about SOCs needing principals and
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teachers who mirrored their personal experiences and provided windows toward opportunities.
Both nontraditional and traditional teacher training programs should step up toward Latino
recruitment and acknowledge cultural values and appreciate the cultural impact that these values
can have on SOCs, particularly FGLMs. Ruben noted that he had a satisfying experience mentor-
ing other first-generation college students within the college pipeline and providing them with the
support and mentoring that they desperately needed. When community colleges establish systems
and processes to engage yesterday’s FGLMs with today's FGLMs, many issues can be immedi-
ately solved along with modest financial outlays within these institutions.
Noel said that he chose his science profession to assist other science majors who shared
similar struggles and obstacles so that they could succeed in higher education and become health
professionals. The constant familial and social expectations that he perceived regarding mentor-
ing other SOCs were internalized and validating; he always followed that internalized voice that
reminded him that he needed to be successful for his community and others.
Enrique highly suggested that future first-generation Latino students who planned to
pursue a college education should become prepared and learn what applying to college entails,
along with the necessary steps to be successful college graduates. Enrique further shared that
FGLMs should gain an understanding of what the different types of degrees mean: associate’s,
bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate, let alone what short-term careers and certificates are with
respect what careers could be pursued. He emphasized the importance of exposing SOCs to
college life from an earlier point in their academic years. He suggested that children of color
should be introduced to and informed about colleges and universities as early as middle school,
further adding that for him and his friends, the adjustment experience from high school to college
was drastic, mainly because they came from households and parents who did not know how to
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navigate the college process. Therefore, he believed that early exposure to college helps to ease
this transition because it provides guidance, support, and literacy about financial aid. Students
should be encouraged to seek out help when struggling with classes and ask for academic or
mental health assistance to figure out why they were not learning or having difficulties with
learning. He emphasized that FGLMs should believe that anything is possible.
Male Gender Role and Expectations
In this subtheme, two areas were explored: male gender roles and expectations. The first
area, the male gender role, focused on the negative and positive aspects found in machismo
among the participants. Data collected on all participants suggested that machismo played a key
role for all participants, as many of them reported that their masculinity had specific and opposing
characteristics: obsession, hostility, authority, assertiveness, determination, and control over the
attainment of social status.
Findings from the data demonstrated contradictions within the notion of Latin masculin-
ity. For example, there was a paradox in the concept of Latin masculinity. Each of the negative
aspects of masculinity and machismo was a limitation for some participants as they navigated
through their higher education with the goal of being successful. The researcher observed that
machismo and pride were a foundation of internalized cultural pride and strength, fueling partici-
pants to be determined to get it done and to be obsessed with their academics and all other goals.
For some participants in this study, the very thought of their White counterparts’ success surpass-
ing that of male Latinos triggered a competitive drive prompting them to hustle in their education.
All in all, there was a quasipositive response regarding feelings of pride and aspirations to
progressively focus on their studies until they persisted onto their next goals.
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However, research has shown that ethnicity and race continue to be essential factors in
explaining achievement differences. Contrary to the positive framing of the gender elements of
masculinity, machismo, and pride, the researcher identified the undesirable gender constructs and
consequences of which these male students were consciously aware, such as machismo and ego).
Because race issues are much more common in today’s college discussions, participants further
explained that their gender constructs were at times barriers to their “academic satisfaction” when
it came to addressing or responding to racist stereotypes in the classroom environment. Many
participants reported holding back by not speaking up when involved in racial conversations or
when they were confronted with politically incorrect interpretations of Latino roles and gender-
negative stereotypes among other classmates. Many participants reported a lack of confidence or
support with respect to addressing the opposing arguments about race relations or whenever they
took part in contentious or political debates related to immigration or cultural stereotypes in
academia. Many of these students also shared that when they dealt with opposing dialogues that
made them feel powerless or unsupported by their instructors, they shared that they would feel
some form of “mental stress.” The researcher provided direct validation to each participant and
praised each one of them for sharing with him their experiences with race relations. The
researcher then explained to each of them that what they experienced was the distress resulting
from racial interactions called racial stress.
As an unexpected outcome in this category, most participants shared struggles from both
their classmates and their professors regarding underrepresentation, social isolation, educational
hurdles, and racial stereotyping. Throughout this data analysis, masculinity alone was prominent
throughout various themes across the data. When the researcher asked Pedro whether he thought
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that FGLMs generally felt comfortable asking other Latino male students for any form of help,
shared:
I don’t think Latinos like myself in general feel comfortable enough asking for assistance
from other Latinos because there is a “fear” or this “pride” holding us back . . . from
reaching out to other, especially during times that we might need some guidance. . . .
Maybe some of us are on our own and by ourselves studying independently, you know . . .
so why bother someone else . . . plus it does feel weird inconveniencing people from their
own personal problems.
Noel shared:
Yeah . . . exactly . . . machismo among us Mexican guys . . . ha ha . . . [laughed] is some-
thing interesting to understand. . . . Trying to ask for help from other Latino male students
studying the same concentration makes it a challenge to do so . . . it’s almost like a mental
wall that doesn’t allow us to come through you know . . . to be a young queer Mexican
American student here at College B is great . . . everywhere I look there is so so much
diversity at this campus, and I feel very welcomed. . . . Plus there are a lot of clubs and
organizations at this campus that welcome young queer students like myself . . . being in a
club is the only things that doesn’t interfere with my machismo.
Ruben noted:
Yeah, most definitely . . . the machismo among us. . . . I will hear stories about how my
grandfather raised my father and how he sees similar upbringing patterns on how my
father raised us . . . especially us guys. . . . My father never really asked anyone for help
. . . so when I’m in class . . . or just hanging out on campus . . . or at the library alone and
I do need help with any of my assignments, then I’ll just suck it up and do everything by
myself unless a professor highly suggests that I get help . . . but that’s what I’m used to.
. . . I was raised to be “independent” . . . and seeking assistance to me is a weakness that
goes against what I’m doing . . . or . . . it hurts my ego . . . because there is a sense of
machismo and pride in that behavior that traces back to the men in my previous genera-
tions. . . . Unfortunately, I just felt that I had to duke it out alone.
Most participants felt that their machismo or masculinity was one of the reasons that they
did not want to request assistance or ask questions in regard to their academics or seek assistance
when experiencing personal and academic struggles. Having to self-disclose needing help was
perceived as a weakness to many of them. Participants in this study often chose to cope internally
with their obstacles rather than utilizing support systems or reaching out to their academic
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advisors. Those participants who did use some support systems to deal with their challenges
relied mainly on college mentors and peers.
Self-Motivation and Validation
Throughout the interviews, many of the participants shared that during the 2016 presi-
dential campaign, the Republican nominee Donald Trump’s racially charged comments directed
toward Mexico only motivated many participants to do better in their studies. Jesse, for example,
shared:
I believe that President Trump’s latest exercise in fear-mongering towards Latinos is the
most shameless yet. . . . His comments not only fueled my determination . . . but it
sparked my motivated to do better so that I can be a bad-ass Spanish professor who’s
going to not just teach Spanish . . . but educate my future students of color about their
ancestors and history on this stolen land. . . . It’s hard enough that Latino males like
myself struggle abiding to the gender roles instilled in us by our family, friends, and
society . . . let alone face discouragement that interplays with our gender and ethnic
minority status.
Enrique was also very sincere and transparent about what motivated him to strive to be a
future economist:
In my opinion, although I’m not Mexican . . . I think it’s bad enough to call Mexican
immigrants “criminals” and “rapists,” but demanding to deport someone’s abuelita
(grandmother)—those comments only sinks Trump beyond salvage or saving. . . . My
goodness, people of color already have it hard, so why add more to their hardships and
barriers? . . . All I can do at this point is kick ass here at [College B] and become an
inspiring economics . . . and show the world that Latinos can be anything and not “crimi-
nals” and “rapist” because we aren’t . . . well, there are good and bad people in every
culture . . . FYI [for your information] . . . when you come from an immigrant family . . .
people might not thoroughly understand that when you get to be the first to do something
so admiring . . . you carry your entire family along with you on that journey . . . because
your success is their success.
Participants talked about an internal voice that motivated them to persist through their
higher education so that they could reach their career goals. When it came to lacking motivation,
the majority of the participants shared this common struggle across all the interviews. Participants
shared struggling to find productive reasons to stay persistent in engaging with their tasks. Many
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participants reported feeling comfortable enough to work alone and without help from any on-
campus organizations or peers or needing any encouragement from anyone. It boiled down to
understanding and overcoming procrastination—overcoming this mental barrier. Charlie men-
tioned having no choice but to encourage himself to act persistently on days that he lacked the
most energy and drive for academic work. He shared that his vision board was a sacred space that
displayed what he wanted to bring into his life. Charlie shared that it provided him with valida-
tion each time he accomplished one of the proposed goals on the vision board:
When I created a vision board . . . I place it in a space where I saw it often. I essentially
end doing short visualization exercises throughout the day and each semester. I strongly
believe in the law of attraction which forms my life experience, and it’s doing that
through my positive thoughts. When you are visualizing, you are emitting a powerful
frequency out into the universe, which is endless and made up of energy.
He explained his satisfaction regarding academic and personal achievements:
I finally did it. This is my last semester at [College B] . . . now I really have to push
myself to work and study even harder, because when I start Brown University in the fall
of 2019 . . . I can just imagine the workload that it will be expected from me . . . so I really
. . . really have to push myself to earn good grades . . . especially if I’m planning on going
to graduate school soon after.
Also, Charlie shared that to improve his academic achievements, he consulted with an
academic counselor who assisted him in effectively developing educational and personal goals by
engaging in individual and group activities that focused on setting goals, peer support, and con-
sultation. He shared that his school counselor helped him to increase his study skills and that he
enhanced his motivation by joining a student support group once a week for the remainder of his
last semester. At some point during different semesters, Charlie had considered leaving college
but had to consider the sacrifices and resources he spent in his education and how long it took
him to improve his academic time management.
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Rodolfo spoke about his internal thoughts about succeeding. He shared that sticking to the
study system that he created helped him to achieve and overcome the most challenging classes by
forcing himself to take ownership of his struggles and by telling himself that he could do it. He
shared that his internal monologue guided him to accomplish his goals:
If I don’t reach for the stars, then I’m going to fail and not accomplish my academic goals
. . . and I’m going to disappoint not only myself but my family . . . and then I am really
going to feel like a total loser.
Rodolfo relied on his internal and self-motivation to motivate himself to get things done
at home and school; he had to develop some form of self-confidence to withstand criticism from
the outside world as well as his own family. Many participants in this study felt that their intrinsic
motivation could have been better cultivated in other ways by their parents, professors, and them-
selves by using their resiliency and skills. Participants shared that if they had inspiring role
models, or mentors, or teachers who looked like them, or any kind of “academic advocates” who
were there to guide them no matter who they were, then they might have performed better during
their studies. As a result, they would have had an equal of higher academic achievement. In other
words:
• They would have had a higher GPA;
• They would have performed better on tests;
• They would have had a more positive attitude toward school; and
• They would have had greater confidence toward schoolwork and positive school
engagement.
The findings in this study confirmed the claims of Morales’s (2008) study. Participants
said that while parental and family involvement can have both a positive and negative impact,
family and parental contribution had played a significant role in their academic and their
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nonacademic achievement and success. This study also found that when FGLMs had professors
of the same race, they reported feeling more interested and engaged in their education, cared for,
and more confident in their professors’ cultural abilities to communicate with them. The partici-
pants further reported putting forth more effort in their college education and having higher
aspirations to go to graduate school.
Chapter Summary
For all 10 participants in this study, expression, storytelling, and validation were critical
factors toward the development of their journeys through their community college education. The
research revealed how all 10 participants used their gender and cultural capital as a foundation to
develop resiliency during their studies. The data also suggested that the most significant reason
for the difference between Latinos’ high value regarding schooling of Latinos and their strong
desire to finish school was to have a profession that promised stability, improvement of career
opportunities, and a gain in economic prosperity and social mobility within American society.
These students wanted their parents to play an active role in their lives and college experience so
that their parents could help keep their college students on the path to a better future by merely
supporting their hard work and efforts through validation. All 10 participants were an excellent
example of how a community college can make all the difference in the world. These students
wanted their parents to play an active role in their lives and college experience so that they could
help to keep their college students on the path to a better future by simply supporting their hard
work and efforts through validation. All 10 participants were an excellent example of how a
community college could make all the difference in their futures. These findings suggested that
having the support of family, parents, professors, counselors, mentors, and peers may be particu-
larly important and motivational factors for FGLMs. All of the themes discussed in this chapter
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helped participants to reflect, to feel supported and capable, and encouraged to achieve their goals
and earn their degree at the next institution.
For participants in this study, the various forms of validation occurred in both internal and
external settings and through their peer-to-peer academic support and mentoring. The researcher
explained each theme with personal stories, quotes, and thought processes from all participants to
emphasize and illustrate the barriers and experiences that each student had to overcome in the
pursuit of a college education in a community college setting.
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Chapter 5: Discussion, Implications, Recommendations, and Conclusion
In this final chapter the researcher addresses the findings and how they contributed to the
research question and the study’s intent. Next, critical results for this study are identified and
discussed in the context of the literature review, the research, and the direct impact on the par-
ticipants. A summary of themes, limitations, strengths, recommendations for research, the
conclusion, and implications for practice on the research study are provided.
For this interview study, the theoretical framework was guided by CRT, VT, and counter-
storytelling. Throughout this research, a few significant and consistent themes emerged that
focused on investigating the unique barriers encountered by FGLMs attending two community
colleges. Three thematic findings were discussed in relationship with the literature review in
Chapter 2. A FGLM was defined as someone who identified as a Latino, who was enrolled at
least full-time at his current community college, who was at least 18 years of age or older, and
who had completed at least 25 community college units and was eligible to transfer to a 4-year
institution or was likely to graduate.
This study used a qualitative methodological approach where data were collected in order
to understand and acknowledge the unique barriers and experiences encountered by FGLMs in a
community college setting. To better direct this study, the following research question was
formulated: “How do FGLMs explain their decision to attend and the process of attending a 2-
year community college?
For this study, 10 FGLMs were screened, approved, and interviewed at two community
colleges in the last 6 years. Helpful interview questions produced productive and valuable data
and information about the unique challenges and individual barriers encountered and experienced
by FGLMs attending two southern California community colleges. The researcher explored the
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effect of the willingness of each participant to complete his college degree through the supporting
resources available on campus. Arellano and Padilla (1996) noted that the academic challenges
and obstacles facing nontraditional students such as SOCs prevent students from achieving their
academic endeavors successfully.
In contrast to other similar qualitative studies that indicated that first-generation college
students were less likely to ask for help and interact with their faculty and staff than their counter-
parts: nonfirst-generation traditional students; for example, see E. E. Bell, 2015; and Robles-
Lopez, 2017). These two studies found that both nonfirst-generation African American and
Latino college students expressed feeling less comfortable interacting with their professors and
that they struggled when asking for academic support, although often these SOCs expressed a
desire to engage in interactions with their peers and professors. Individual interviews indicated
that in one crucial way, FGLMs and nonfirst-generation college students’ perceptions about
professors were similar. Both groups of students wanted to figure out how to fulfill their pro-
fessors’ academic expectations and perform successfully to receive the highest grades. Both
Strayhorn (2010) and X. Wang (2013) found that in individual interviews, SOCs reported bene-
ficial outcomes when they did interact with their professors. This study sought to add to this
discussion by exploring through interviews whether FGLMs felt validated by their professors and
how that validation empowered them to persist and graduate with high-achieving grades.
The use of CRT helps to understand systemic racism and discrimination manifestations
across the field of education and offers a useful contribution by discussing institutional racism
among the public school systems and in the classroom setting. CRT provides specific theorization
centered on race and discrimination and their role in systems and society (Crenshaw et al.,1995).
Research studies on college students’ success have shown that precollege exposure, experience,
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and demographic factors affect student academic achievement. However, current educational
research has failed to note that structural racism plays a role in both the academic success and
failure of SOCs (Hardin, 2014), aside from other contributing factors such as their socioeconomic
background and identity and how these have dictated the participants’ precollege exposure and
experiences. A fundamental tenet of CRT that summarizes systematic racism in higher education
is a description of racism as endemic and a root cause of social problems affecting vulnerable
individuals, families, and communities that are “ingrained legally, culturally, and psychologically
in America’s school systems” (Tate, 1997, p. 234).
Past and present systemic racism and discrimination among school districts across
America, faculty, and staff have long been a concern for those researchers working in education
and policy. These practices date back to decades when school districts, White educators’ atti-
tudes, policies, and practices have manifested and maintained disparities among educational
attainments at all academic levels within public and inner-city educational systems (Wright,
1992). For the focus on FGLMs, this study’s possible effects on this student population are essen-
tial and linked to FGLMs’ persistence and progress while in college. The findings also suggested
that FGLMs were not high-risk students, were thankful for their second chance and the opportu-
nity to have experienced personal growth, development, and ownership that would take them into
their future success. Finally, the data revealed that all three themes from this study played an
important role in how FGLMs perceived a sense of place and growth related to both community
colleges.
Discussion: Themes Linked to the Literature Review
As noted in Chapter 1, urban community colleges tend to be comprised overwhelmingly
of a combination of a diverse student population. It is through urban settings that the nation and
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the majority of FGLMs begin their college journey. Community colleges are a place where first-
generation students discuss the difficulties and barriers they have faced as students and also
reflect their distinctive ethnicity and background, as well as their communities.
It is crucial for leaders of community colleges who face rapid demographic shifts in their
colleges to adapt to these changes and challenges by incorporating appropriate cultural tools and
professional development to better serve their student population. Therefore, by doing so, chang-
ing demographics requires leaders to undertake a robust, continuous, and systemic professional
development process to prepare all faculty and staff in those settings to effectively work in a
highly diverse environment so as to better serve and understand SOCs, particularly FGLMs.
The final chapter for this study focuses specifically on the three main themes and sub-
themes that arose from the research question, data, and interviews and were then addressed with
respect to previous research mentioned in Chapter 2. To perform this study, the researcher used a
qualitative analytical approach to gather the findings using a semistructured interview protocol
style to build rapport and to establish a trusting relationship with all participants. For this study,
the researcher selected as 10 participants from two community colleges and employed qualitative
methods to collect and analyze data from the 10 interviews. The researcher chose qualitative
methods because this specific approach allowed him to study each participant within the context
of his unique experience as a first-generation community college student. This approach enabled
the researcher to gather new data to add meaning, identify, and shed light on the untold unique
stories concerning their participants’ struggles and achievements. Therefore, constructing mean-
ing about their college identity, social perceptions, and academic backgrounds should allow
others to further understand the facts and perspectives of this group of students and to recognize
their problems and how they relate to their college experiences (Atkins et al., 2008). The
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researcher assumed that his role examined all the experiences of the community college partici-
pants, ranging from exposure to higher education; asking for help; characteristics of personal,
motivational, and emotional processing of any negative interactions inside and outside the
classroom and invalidating experiences, particularly those at community college. Currently, there
is a lack of literature on nontraditional students, such as FGLMs, which is indicative of a signif-
icant gap between colleges and universities (Nora et al., 2011). More research into the subject
would be appropriate and necessary to explore the historically low level of persistence among
several FGLMs (Nora et al., 2011). These students are too often subjects or objects of research
rather than being participants in academic-based success stories where researchers would want to
hear their success in academic stories. Therefore, scholars must also begin to frame the nontradi-
tional student experience as educational and investigate through experiences that encourage and
impede their academic success.
This study allowed the participants to tell their stories and discuss how their gender roles
and cultural obstacles possibly affected their educational experiences as students, thus allowing
the researcher to explore the academic difficulties and obstacles for these students and to high-
light clear reference points through interactions and positive outcomes. The results and outcomes
of the theme and subthemes discussed in Chapter 4 offer insights that revealed information for
better understanding and supporting FGLMs at institutions of higher education, particularly at
community college settings.
Reflecting on all the nuanced questions and reflections of this study, the researcher did
not require the students to delve into a thorough explanation of their challenges and positive
experiences. The participants provided significant meaning to their validation experiences,
motivation, and gender identity. The students shared perspectives that contributed to this study’s
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objective and helped to establish the key themes, taking into account their college environment’s
unique experiences; resources; and issues related to family, employment, and gender as mascu-
line students. Three of the themes coincided with previous research (Patton et al., 2007) support-
ing VT, which reflects the hypothesis that explains the personal and academic interactions of
participants in and out of the classroom setting with peers, teachers, colleagues, families and how
it correlated with participants’ confirmation of validation. Based on the literature review, the third
theme, self- motivation, was not evidence based or supported by any past research of any kind
within academia or any prior studies. The 10 subthemes were noted with a detailed overview of
the perspectives regarding the participants’ experiences as they navigated the resources and
programs available at their community colleges. The next section is a discussion of all the themes
and how they connect to the literature review, explaining how the findings interacted with past
research.
Key themes that arose from the aggregated data helped to conceptualize the participants’
experiences—validity and gender-based difficulties (machismo)—as they persisted through their
college education. All participants in this study provided unique stories regarding people, events,
and organizations that connected them to their college life as they pursued their short- and long-
term goals. In this study, the researcher supported the use of VT for SOCs in higher education
because it illustrated via personalized examples how validation helped these participants to
overcome barriers and mental challenges that were aligned with Rendón’s VT (as cited in Patton
et al., 2007). Internal validation experiences were the third theme to arose from the data.
The researcher described this theme as the reassuring and supportive inner voice that
guided the participants to have an inner sense of praise, security, confidence, and validation
whenever they consulted with their mentors and peers, who validated their collaboration and
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efforts during any academic or social interaction inside and outside the classroom. As participants
navigated through college facing several barriers, it became clear that they had overcome various
obstacles different from their continuing-generation White counterparts; these barriers, obstacles,
and experiences arose from the subthemes in the interviews. While participants persisted through
college, they overcame many hurdles, as it was clear that they had faced and encountered differ-
ent challenges from their White counterparts, who did not have the same economic difficulties
and barriers. These patterns were established and derived from the subthemes and interviews of
the participants The main highlights identified from the findings of the study were the following:
• FGLMs reported that the time needed for studying was a significant barrier.
• The academic and interpersonal relationships outside the classroom setting provided
participants with positive affirmation and feelings of acceptance, being understood, and
validated. These students began to believe that they could be successful as they con-
nected to networking opportunities.
• Holistic results from the data showed that as a first-generation college student, lacking
knowledge about college and financial aid were the most significant challenges; lack of
support from immediate family and the fact that many participants were of low SES
were additional challenges.
• Participants felt supported and recognized by adjunct staff or faculty, who made a
difference in students’ sense of belonging to the school community.
• Findings from the data exhibited that the transitioning process to college was daunting
for many participants in terms of their masculine identity and autonomy.
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• For many participants, internal validation provided them with an alternative in the form
of a supportive internal voice that enabled them to overcome problems and rise to any
challenges, thus reminding them of their strengths and potential to succeed.
• The in-classroom experience was salient to participants, as some confirmed the essen-
tial role of having a mentor, available at the community colleges during their freshman,
or 1st year in college, to help them visualize what college was like once they trans-
ferred to an actual 4-year institution after attaining an AA degree.
• Engagement with adjunct staff inside the classroom provided participants with inspi-
ration and validation as it validated their unique learning styles, thus making them
better achievers in the school.
• Family, particularly parents, found their child’s college education to be a mystery;
however, in FGLMs’ families, role assignments about gender, family, work, religion,
and community were passed down through the generations, thereby creating intergen-
erational continuity.
• When FGLMs disrupted their family system (traditions) by choosing a college career,
these students experienced a shift in their identity that led to a sense of loss, or else the
family adjusted and learned to appreciate the change for the best. Not prepared for this
kind of loss, many FGLMs’ developed two identities: one for home and another for
college.
• For many FGLMs, during college mentors played a vital role as validating agents
within and outside of the classroom settings.
• Validation within the classroom setting did appear in the research via interviews and
throughout the questionnaires.
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In-Classroom Validation Experiences
The main question asked in the interviews was how FGLMs experienced validation on
their college campus and how that validation was perceived in order for them to persist in their
studies. Findings from this study suggested that participants felt directly validated by their
classroom environment, peers, and adjunct staff and instructors. Rendón’s (1995, 2000) research
and theories emphasized the importance of students’ comfort and learning while receiving and
affirming validation both in and outside of their classroom experiences. Regarding student–peer
support and networking, these two constituted a significant theme that arose from the classroom
experience for many participants. Participants in this study shared that seeking academic support
outside of the classroom because the TAs provided them with student-centered instruction and
collaboration (i.e., they helped students learn how to learn), and the TAs explained the course
materials effectively. Without any confusion, participants felt understood, supported, validated,
and motivated because the TAs (tutors) played a significant role in the learning process of
participants.
Rendón (1995) explained that students in a previous study increased their inner confi-
dence and felt validated from the classroom environment because their instructor and peers were
able to communicate acceptance of themselves and others. Academic organizations and others
offered participants the necessary guidance and support needed to compete academically. These
informal networks consisted of family members, peers, parents, neighbors, colleagues, acquaint-
ances, teachers and instructors, and other staff active in schools who inspired, taught, and directed
SOCs through their academic experience.
Noel appreciated the extra mile that his classmates went to ensure that he understood the
math problems and formulas so that he could perform well when it came to his midterms and
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final examinations. He shared an understanding of his friends’ tutoring styles that helped partici-
pants like him to grasp the lectures. Gabe shared that SOCs should not be separated from their
cultural learning styles when it came to learning, because SOCs comprehended their instruction
through cultural and mental lenses.
For this study, the classroom environment and the adjunct staff interactions (known as
involvement) were factors that played a role when students reported feeling validated, as valida-
tion may have been the missing link to participation on and off the college campus and as a way
to be confirmed and to find structure at their campus. Auxiliary staff interactions were prominent
aids for SOCs’ academic and long-term success. C. A. Hernandez and O’Brien-Pallas (1996)
noted that the influence of the validating faculty relationship was small and unusual for these
students. Rendón (2000) noted that compared to traditional White American students, SOCs and
first-generation Latino students tended to withhold their questions during a class discussion to
avoid confrontation with their professors when problems or confusion related to the lesson
occurred. However, these issues may be less problematic for Mexican Americans or other
American-born Latinos (Rendón, 2000). Aside from peer support, participants shared that they
were very grateful for the support and encouragement from two or three instructors who provided
them with career advice and educational guidance, because the students internalized the encour-
agement as validating. Participants shared that some of their courses engaged all students in an
active and conversive dialogue that prompted them to share their ideas and opinions on the topic
being discussed. However, most of the courses were lectured based, and the instructors did not
always reach out to all the students.
Furthermore, participants shared that these lectures were not just dull but ineffective as
well. Participants were not suggesting that community colleges should redesign their classroom
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settings. All they were saying was that lectures undeniably have their place in a college setting
but should not be considered the ultimate be-all and end-all technique. In subjects conducive to
traditional talking structures, participants felt that there was no reason to abandon that method
altogether. Participants also noted feeling inspired by instructors who always reached out to them
and made sure that their opinions and feedback were inclusive and validated.
Participants felt that for them to perform well academically, they needed to feel “here”
and safe, both psychologically and physically. Participants shared that the underlying premises
that captured different conceptual meanings and varied themes were the same as those obtained
by the term validation. Participants affirmed that they were viewed as valuable and knowledge-
able by many staff, and that provided them with a sense of self-worth and validation. Participants
were aware that in some of their courses, they stood out like a sore thumb, and that is why it was
vital for them to feel safe. They noted that it helped them to develop a positive self-concept
because participants’ validation was internalized as an affirmation that transformed them into
successful learners as well as persisters. Participants wanted additional staff to share technical
and personal experiences revealing some of the struggles that they had faced so as to provide
participants with a sense of engagement, affirmation, and validation.
Previous studies have shown that the link between students and staff has had a significant
impact on learning, as it can improve their relationship outside the classroom to develop succes-
ful communication and learning. Professors have discovered that in this less formal environment,
some students have found their teachers to be more open and more likely to take advantage of
exposure to them outside of class (Datnow et al., 2017; Rendón, 2012). Various research metho-
dologies have indicated that researchers have started to expand and specify on the current
measurements and interpretation of elements extracted from CRT and VT.
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Although participants occasionally felt validated in their classroom environment and by
adjunct staff, they expressed that most of their instructors and other agents lacked confirming this
emotional validation. Going away to any college is both a source of anxiety and pride. Many
academic researchers and scholars agree that institutions of higher education have an invisible
missing link when it comes to racial analyses and diversity. Considering that many American
colleges struggle to envision the future of diversity across numerous college campuses, currently
many institutions still serve the majority White male student population (Rendón 2012). Conse-
quently, it is not difficult to see why SOCs do not fit the image of the traditional student and thus
feel intimidated and marginalized by the American college culture today. For example, Pedro
shared this one specific concern:
Once I transfer into a PWI [Berkeley], I’m going there with little exposure to an all-White
student body. . . . I honestly haven’t had much experience socializing with other White
people, I will be transferring into a life science program where I’m sure I’ll be one of the
few Latinos in an all-White/Asian major. . . . Like . . . I really want to have that exposure
and experience. . . . I’m worried about “code switching,” or whatever it’s called. . . . How
do I approach and interact in situations surrounded with people that will not look like me?
The data backed up what Pedro perceived. Access to people with different viewpoints and
backgrounds contributes to improved learning. It is also a common slogan in admissions offices
nationwide. For example, to support Pedro’s statement, a large body of research states that code
switching is a normal and widespread phenomenon of bilingual discourse in any academic,
social, and professional setting (Patton et al., 2007). Patton et al. (2007) further noted that code
switching is not trying to fit into the White American culture and environment. It is surviving it,
especially while using this technique when trying to enunciate each consonant, vowel, and to
stress each syllable to assimilate into a social environment. For many POC and SOCs, code
switching is a survival technique, or a form of expression to navigate higher education. It has
helped many POC to survive and thrive in the American mainstream culture.
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Out-of-the-Classroom Validation Experiences and Dealing With Gender and Masculinity
Roles and Issues Outside the Classroom
A key finding in the study was that when external agents outside the classroom took the
initiative to validate participants’ interpersonal and academic qualities, these agents instilled
confidence and made the students believe that they could be successful in anything they pursued.
Previous research has focused on Latino families with college students and has underlined the
value of familial relations in the success and persistence of Latino male students (Gandara et al.,
2012). FGLMs attending community college and their families recognized that the path of a
college education presented challenges. However, despite participants’ personal and financial
responsibilities, they knew that earning a college education was within their grasp. Hence, par-
ticipants felt that the community college experience was their foundation that helped them to
navigate and balance their future upper-division coursework with outside obligations once they
transferred to their chosen 4-year institutions.
The community college and its environment helped participants to strengthen their prior-
ities and time management skills, teaching them that being a student and working were possible
and worth the effort with the right time management and determination. Parents’ SES and level of
education have been prominent indicators and predictors for Latinos’ persistence (Gandara et al.
(2012). In this study, most of the participants identified themselves as coming from a lower-
socioeconomic background and also identified as first-generation students whose parents had
emigrated to the United States. All participants in the survey reported that their parents or care-
givers communicated their expectations in some specific way to them. The most frequently
reported method of communication was encouraging them to set high goals for themselves,
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followed by talking about college using the cuando (when) form and talking in future tense
statements and by becoming involved in all types of school activities.
For this study, the data suggested that the parents held themselves accountable for ensur-
ing their son’s academic success through motivation and encouragement, the social environment,
and always following up on participants’ emotional and well-being. In other words, many parents
owned the responsibility for participants’ success in college and believed that they made a
significant difference in participants’ academic progress; therefore, participants internalized these
behaviors and felt validated. Some participants shared that their parents held high expectations
regarding their educational attainment, wanted their sons to graduate from college, and believed
that college was utterly crucial for their future and upward mobility purposes. Because many of
the families were unable to provide participants with financial support, their encouragement alone
validated participants and pushed them to thrive.
Participants shared that many of their parents had had high expectations since participants
had started the pre-kindergarten Head Start program. In contrast, according to Harper & Williams
(2013), the researchers implied that for Latino male students, there is a transitional phrase early in
college where these groups of students experience an identity transitioning. During this time,
these students discover and explore their gender identities, roles, responsibilities, and aspirations
as they prioritize and balance their studies, family obligations, and work while also navigating
their educational pathways before and after transferring to the 4-year institution to continue with
their studies.
However, family members did not view childhood behaviors as problematic or abnormal.
In contrast, participants shared that many of their family members internalized their childhood
upbringing and behaviors as “normal,” justifying that everything that they experienced was
145
cultural and healthy in the Latino culture. During the interviews, the participants appeared neutral
as they shared how they were all reared, poor family decisions, and how choices made in the past
had no negative bearing on their academic achievement. Many shared that they understood that
their parents or caregivers just wanted the best for them and did whatever they could at the time
to provide them with the basics. Many participants did not blame their parents because they did
not know any better and lacked the overall parent-to-child understanding. Of the demographic
variables included in this study, parents’ educational level and students’ academic performance
were related to factors of SES.
Perhaps using a broader and inclusive diverse sample (regarding parents’ education level
correlated with students’ academic achievement), validation, motivation, and support could be
higher than expected. Therefore, by comparing two similar but complex studies across other
similar studies involving Latino families, dynamics, and educational achievements correlated
with educational attainment levels. The comparison could assist researchers in navigating trade-
offs and complexities identical to this study that focused on FGLMs persisting in college. The
responses from the questionnaire and personal interviews provided relevant findings, thereby
leading to discussions related to personal experiences of self, depicting college as a part of life
and mandatory, as it unlocks barriers to upward social mobility, which is the opportunity for
SOCs to move from one socioeconomic class to another.
For this study, the data helped to fill a gap in research that has not commonly focused on
the way that FGLMs shared their barriers to success and expectations for their educational
attainment. For the parents’ level of education, refer to Figures 2 and 3 in Chapter 4. To help
support and direct their children while in college, parents who reported having some schooling
(e.g., high school or some postsecondary education) or no schooling were hindered in their
146
involvement in their children’s college education because they were unable to rely on their jobs to
completely direct their children as they navigated through college or provide them with the
financial support. Many of these parents not only were unfamiliar with the process of financial
assistance but also had to figure out how to pay for their children’s college education without
relying on government loans.
Finally, the majority of participants reported that on-campus alliances such as student
involvement organizations, Latino-based organizations, the Mexican American student groups,
and fraternity organizations at both Colleges A and B provided participants with a sense of
belonging. These alliances provided participants with a sense of belonging; participants shared
that the alliances were a key component to their academic success. They also provided partici-
pants with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to strengthen their leadership skills, to be good
leaders in whatever professional setting they chose, and to build a bigger network.
Findings from this study supported previous research relevant to themes from this study
that demonstrated how validation and outside classroom experiences and gender roles could have
a positive influence on student academic persistence (Rendón, 2012). FGLMs appeared to be
aware and have a different perspective of the barriers they encountered while attending a
community college. Although participants faced barriers while in college, they were determined
to complete their degree and transfer until they graduate.
Internal Validation Experiences
For this study, internal validation was one of the main themes. As independent variables
emerged from the data that had been underexplored in past research, participants in the present
study motivated themselves to accomplish their goals, to graduate, and to transfer to their dream
school to finish their bachelor’s degree. Internal validation experiences help researchers to
147
understand how students internalized the relationship between internal validation experiences and
how they promoted mental motivation and increased academic performance among FGLMs.
Findings from this specific theme (internal validation) can help to promote an effective assess-
ment questionnaire and to better develop and improve validation measurement tools for educators
and scholarly researchers for future research. When asked how they overcame barriers, partici-
pants shared how they relied on “that little voice” and motivation to overcome all challenges. A
few participants explained knowing what they had to do to move ahead in their studies; one
participant shared having to push himself to challenge his moments of depression and levels of
confidence. Many participants shared that, at times, they did not feel confident while studying.
Those inner voices inspired them to tackle their academic challenges by staying resilient and
looking ahead, so that one day they could be leaders and role models for other young Latino male
students. In terms of well-being, all FGLMs figured out ways to cope with the uncertainties when
confronted with complexities related to mental health challenges, diversity, self-doubts, and
tension due to the highly competitive and individualized college climate that had led many of
these students to feel alienated and often depressed. Therefore, by developing the ability to
self-validate made a difference among the participants because self- validation provided them
with self-reassurance.
Limitations and Strengths
In this study, several limitations applied to generalizability, which requires further eval-
uation and discussion. First, all 10 participants represented only as first-generation Latino male
students from a single U.S. state, California. The participating schools, Colleges A and B, were
selected based on specific demographic criteria (i.e., race, ethnicity, gender identity). Cultural
expectations, lack of comprehension on the part of parents and families, absence of resources,
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financial difficulties, and lack of academic understanding and preparation served as examples of
the complex obstacles that FGLMs faced as they persist through college. Participants shared that
the academic complexities were so prevalent almost every academic year that they had to seek
counseling and peer support from numerous resources to cope with their personal and educational
crises. Several participants shared that their challenges presented as unusual circumstances that
could have been worse if they lacked a supportive social and peer network and resources on and
off campus.
Many participants felt that their resilience kept them afloat, thus allowing them to cope as
they continued their studies and once they had transferred to the next chapter at their new insti-
tution. Also, the small sample size consisting of 10 participants, precludes the generalizability of
the results, along with the snowball sampling method, both of which resulted in a homogeneous
group in terms of views, values, and behaviors; and these common elements became apparent
across all participants and the data. CRT and VT seek to center the experiences, stories, and
voices of those often in the minority in educational and social research by explicitly considering
their college experiences at the intersection of race, gender, and other forms of oppression in a
college setting (Solórzano & Yosso, 2001). However, the present study was instructive because it
aimed to assess whether counterstorytelling impacted awareness of the issues affecting FGLMs.
Given that many of the participants in this sample were drawn from predominantly White
community colleges, results cannot be explicitly linked to students’ experiences in private or less
ethnically diverse college and university environments. The general environment of the commu-
nity colleges and the availability of more exceptional academic and social resources for FGLMs
could have affected the shared experience of the 10 participants in the current study.
149
Immersed in CRT, Yosso’s (2013) community cultural wealth theory represents an essen-
tial framework consisting of different forms of capital than can be underestimated if not using a
CRT lens or another similar culture-related theory. The various forms of capital (i.e., aspirational,
linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant) refer to those dominant groups who
opposed behavior that challenges inequality. In the implementation of CRT, Yosso further elabo-
rated on the assumptions surrounding cultural capital to reflect what it defines as community
cultural wealth. Stating that the concept of wealth is extracted out of the community and from
individualized experiences of being a person of color, such as FGLMs attending both PWIs and
minority serving institutions. Aspirations for a brighter future, campus resources, motivation, and
family support are the strategies and approaches used by FGLMs in maintaining their dreams and
their determination to earn their AA degree and transfer to the institution where they earned
admissions. This study has shown that, in the light of different approaches, FGLMs not only
persevered and strived to go beyond a 4-year degree but also to complete a terminal degree (e.g.,
law, medicine, Master’s of Business Administration [MBA], or PhD.).
FGLMs try to use their cultural and civic capitals to thrive and persist through the systems
of higher education; students typically attempt to conquer many barriers to improve their long-
term mobility of life. These students in this study sought financial aid resources when available
and used them, were employed, and for the most part carried a full load of courses for the goals of
finishing community college within 2 years or less. They had sought resources to finance their
education and searched for third parties, such as scholarship services, to aid them financially and
academically. All of these factors contributed significantly to the willingness of FGLMs to
remain at their college and were of vital importance towards their financial support (Becerra,
2010).
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Another variable that might have affected or limited generalizability were the relatively
low response self-disclosure rate among participants. Second, for this study, all surveys were
based on participants’ self-report only. However, given the powerful influence of culture, gender,
masculinity, self-perception, and self-efficacy expectations, the perceptions of the participants
were the primary interest for this interview study. Third, it must be considered that the assessment
used for this study was strategically designed to assess clarity and relevance to the research
question, the assessment may not have done justice for the effectiveness of the questionnaire,
thereby limiting the supportive evidence and affecting this study’s validity, further impacting the
results and interpretation. The researcher had to take at face value the participants’ shared infor-
mation through the interview’s questionnaires, perhaps constraining the generalizability of the
results. Also, the fact that the researcher identifies as a member of the Mexican, Mexican Amer-
ican, Latino, Black, and LGBTQIAPK communities perhaps might have helped the researcher in
establishing a trusting relationship with all participants that might not have been possible if the
researcher was not acquainted with those communities or members of those communities
(comunidades). This situation could have provided several cultural, socioeconomic, and gender-
based perspectives if the questionnaire had covered more of those elements for this study. For
example, during one of the interviews, one of the participants openly self-disclosed his sexual
orientation to point out that being gay and Latino carried more mental and emotional stress while
juggling a full-time job to help to support his family and his college education. Despite every-
one’s differences, the researcher identified and related to some of the participants’ life experi-
ences. For example, the researcher identifies as a gay Latino, Mexican American male person
who initiated his education at a community college at the beginning of his college career. For this
study, building rapport was essential for the researcher with the intention of gathering quality data
151
that could be transcribed and persuasively presented in this study. The researcher was able to
establish a robust two-way connection with each participant and, at the same time, provide a
welcoming environment consisting of mutual attentiveness, positivity, and coordination.
Implications for Practice
There is a well-founded concern about the low retention rates for FGLMs enrolled at 2-
year colleges. FGLMs are more likely not to finish their studies if they are not interacting with
their counselors, professors, peers, and colleagues. By using storytelling, the researcher’s goal
was to collect different lived experiences and to bring about the exchange of unique stories about
individual situations. This study intended to explore and reveal the unique barriers that FGLMs
encountered at two southern California community colleges and to learn of the strategies used by
each student to effectively graduate and transfer to a 4-year institution. The study’s findings
revealed that FGLMs often lacked the academic preparation, peer network, support, and guidance
to be successful in their studies. To that end, the findings suggested that the importance of having
a supportive network established for first-generation students cannot be underestimated. For this
study, based on the themes and outcomes, there are numerous implications for practice to
strengthen and improve student retention among SOCs. The data suggested that community
colleges’ leaders should explore new perspectives to further enhance FGLMs’ college experience
in areas that foster validation and empowerment, because FGLMs initiated their college studies
already motivated and determined and all they needed was encouragement and validation to
continue to persist.
CRT started with the notion that racism and discrimination are present in everyday
American society, while White Americans benefit from civil rights legislation and structures.
Therefore, in order to gradually change the systemic inequities of higher education for SOCs,
152
CRT provides an opportunity to resolve this issue through its criticism of whiteness as a property
that has warped efforts to remediate racial exploitation among federal, private, and public insti-
tutions across the nation. White Americans have always benefitted from the civil rights legisla-
tion even if it has not always benefitted Mexican Americans, other Latinos, and Black Americans
who are at the root of the CRT. Therefore, CRT can be a powerful source of justification for
understanding “how school inequities have shaped the experiences of students of color in higher
education” (Rendón, 2002, p. 654). That way educational scholars can carefully research and
approach the issues of race and education in the 21st century.
Many POC suffer the consequences of systemic and structural racism (Applebaum,
(2008). When it comes to school funding, perhaps no schooling domain underscores racism and
inequity better than the inequality of school funding via property taxes. The inability of SOCs to
qualify for competitive educational advancements, careers, professions, and upward mobility
opportunities creates a cycle of low educational achievement, low skills and other disadvantages,
unemployment, and equal housing opportunities. Instead of challenging the existence of White
privilege as a vague entity, CRT uses political and legal precedents to give concrete examples of
how whiteness has harvested unjust benefits throughout American history.
As higher education in America seeks to prepare its citizens, particularly SOCs, CRT
looks at how society and race can interact progressively. Adopting and adapting CRT as an
educational equity lens means that scholars and educational advocates will have to expose racism
at all academic levels and propose radical solutions to address it, keeping SOCs’ interests in
mind. Education activists would have to take a bold and practical stance so that the federal
government can strive to make institutions more inclusive through legislative reforms and
enhanced diversity programs. Therefore, revamping infrastructure to transform how institutions
153
reinforce racism will only improve the lives of POC. Therefore, by doing this, the approaches
challenge racial ideologies that unconsciously perpetuate blame on POC or SOCs instead of
engaging in the systematic racial politics of students’ engagement and development (Pivaral,
2012)
Additional findings were that an urban upbringing provided these students with signifi-
cant strengths and assets to be successful in college. Participants expressed wanting their college
leaders to improve the racial climate for all students and faculty of color by making every effort
to work responsibly for racial justice, so that colleges embrace the culture, habits, decisions,
practices, and policies that comprise campus life and so that SOCs, faculty, staff, and administra-
tors can experience an acceptance of differences and cultivate that notion in the same way that
traditional students are served and encouraged.
Participants were actively engaged at their college by taking advantage of the connections
and resources available in the effort to be successful. There are focus areas where community
colleges should consider making significant policy changes and improvements, particularly for
FGLMs. First, urban FGLMs have rarely been introduced as part of the discussion on diversity
and equity to improve the racial climate on predominantly White campuses and minority-serving
institutions. Also, based on the researcher’s previous observations and from participants’
responses, there were many remarks centered on the lack of access to mental health services and
care, as well as the absence of therapists of color to better understand and meet students’ mental
health needs on school premises.
Student Affairs leaders have a unique opportunity to work directly with trans and queer
SOCs in college communities across the nation. Issues relating to SOCs and LGBTQI students
must be addressed in all discussions to improve these students and staff members’ college
154
environments, so that they all receive equity in every respect. Indeed, these are essential student
populations to discuss and involve in conversations related to diversity; however, this subgroup
of students is not the only one that matters. All participants reported that their community college
did little to link newly incoming freshmen students to resources so that they could experience a
smoother transition to their campus environment. The supportive resources and academic
programs for FGLMs were either limited or almost nonexistent. Making the transitioning process
from high school to college is a challenging one; and these students started college lacking the
essential content knowledge, skills, or the habits needed to succeed and to take on the role of
college students. Participants felt that college campuses lacked integration or introduction work-
shops specifically for the Latino student population. Community colleges should improve how
they recognized these inner-city students and understand the dynamics and strengths that each of
these students brings to the community college environment.
As a researcher, one does not undertake a research endeavor without the hope that there
will be some implications for practice within the focus field. For this study, several
recommendations could be applied to community colleges as they relate to students who are
FGLMs from urban communities within Los Angeles County. Findings revealed critical impli-
cations for promoting both interpersonal and academic validation for FGLMs in community
colleges. Through their college and validation experiences, the participants were transformed into
students with greater confidence and higher self-efficacy in their studies and learning abilities.
Participants also became aware of their capabilities of earning an AA degree in their field of
study and learned of the importance of obtaining higher education.
This study highlighted the vital role of faculty members in acknowledging the abilities
and talents of individual students, as results were supported by previous research as well. For
155
example, college staff and/or faculty validation was found to be a solid predictor of a student’s
sense of personal and academic integration in college (Becerra, 2010). Pivaral (2012) also found
that students’ confidence increases their ability to be achievers and successful academic scholars
when they perceive a supportive and engaging relationship with faculty and staff. For transfer
students, their community college experiences have been limited to in-classroom engagement as
the instructors are for the most part the only point of contact that students have for the entire
semester; therefore, more regular contact with faculty can go a long way, and faculty can create
meaningful relationships from these interactions. These students often live off campus, commute
to campus, and have various responsibilities other than their college careers; therefore, interac-
tions with college faculty are critical to students’ validation experiences.
Because student–faculty engagement is vital to student success (Becerra, 2010), colleges
that offer webinars, professional development, or training sessions for staff members to learn and
transition into advising and mentoring models could better support academic student validation.
Community colleges should consider creating student–faculty mentorship programs in order to
actively foster personal engagement and growth between students and faculty. In addition to
“regular” financial aid for students, community colleges should offer other forms of financial aid,
such as fellowships, grants, or stipends, including internships that provide hands-on opportunities
to explore career skills. Formal training could be put in to practice through an externship, intern-
ship, apprenticeship, or even through volunteering and could have a significant impact on em-
ployment and career opportunities during or right after college.
Family played a critical role in these FGLMs transferring to a 4-year university. Many of
the participants shared that their parents often felt unfamiliar with the everyday expectations and
rigor of the academic curriculum; therefore, their parents were unwilling, and at times unable, to
156
help the participants to adequately prepare for their assignments, let alone prepare for college.
The 10 participants emphasized the interpersonal validation that they all received from their
family members, who offered financial, religious, and emotional support. However, studies have
demonstrated that the first place that FGLMs look for help is not in a guidance office or in the
classroom, but rather in the home. If and when a student approaches a parent or a family member
with a problem or a question and those individuals do not know how to answer, then that student
may not take the initiative to seek out academic support at their college. In most cases, the parents
and/or family simply need to direct their students to the appropriate staff at the community
college. If the parents and/or family members are unaware of the available resources at the stu-
dent’s campus, then that important link between the community college and parent or family may
be lost.
Community colleges should consider options such as including family members in
college students’ support programs or activities (e.g., information and orientation sessions).
Community colleges that foster student engagement and opportunities to better familiarize
students and their families with the campus is promoting and appreciating the cultural diversity
within their environment. This idea could also help family members by offering interpersonal
validation and learning some practical tips on how to support their students during the transition
to community college. These on-campus student resources could serve as supports for FGLMs
and their families by providing them with a safe zone to share their experiences, encourage one
another, and exchange information related to other college-related support services. Community
colleges should consider using technology to progressively maintain and develop communication
with FGLMs’ families through school publications and social media. These communication
strategies can help to address course changes or departmental complications, highlight faculty
157
members, recognize family members’ support and engagement, and act as a way of validating
FGLMs’ accomplishments—because a little validation goes a long way. The college staff does
not have to agree with everything that SOCs do or say—just understand them by providing them
with direct validation.
Finally, findings for this study echoed previous research (Solórzano & Bernal, 2001) indi-
cating that community colleges serve as a critical step in transitioning the FGLMs’ pathway to the
baccalaureate and beyond to a graduate degree. Participants reported that their community
colleges recognized them, respected their choices, and valued their opinions and abilities to push
forward as they all progressed toward their degree. In addition to family support and faculty, the
findings of the study acknowledged the unique challenges and characteristics of the community
college that helped to enhance FGLMs’ validation experiences. Accessing affordable tuition and
reasonable class schedules contributed to the first-generation students’ transfer success rate. It
allowed these transfers to explore different career options and disciplines by taking general and
foundation courses just before transferring to the college or university of their choice upon
meeting the admissions criteria. Community colleges provide a safe zone and space for all
students to process and reflect on their everyday school-related activities and productivity as
students and ultimately to gain or regain empowerment and confidence in pursuing their AA
degree.
To have a better understanding of how community colleges serve FGLM transfer
students, community colleges should conduct various focus groups with faculty, students, and
parents and other family members to help them to fundamentally understand the unique experi-
ences encountered by their students. Therefore, by exploring the college and academic experi-
ences of FGLMs, community colleges can identify the needs and subsequently offer services or
158
programs to support FGLMs and their families. FGLMs who find a resource, group, alliance,
counseling, or someone worth connecting with at their home campus are more likely to engage in
educational activities, learn, develop, and continue striving toward their educational objectives.
That said, most institutions should do far more than they are currently doing to incorporate
measures that will shift the attitude of the students to understand their college journey and what
they do after they arrive.
Recommendations for Research
The results of this study confirmed and reinforced much of what was found in studies,
research, and theories discussed in the literature review. There were also some new thematic
findings and unexpected phenomena that encourage future practices, studies, and research. The
recommendations for future research are the following:
1. It is noted that college administrators, staff, and educators require better cultural com-
petency training during professional development and preparation to reduce bias and to
ensure that they avoid setting lower academic expectations for SOCs. Community col-
leges must raise awareness at every level about the fact that the educational and achieve-
ment gap between Latinos and other ethnicities is not an issue that affects only FGLMs;
however, it affects the whole Latino community in a family, economic, social, cultural,
academic, and directly personal way. Therefore, closing the achievement gap is the civil
rights issue of this time and must be made a priority if community colleges are serious
about uplifting and helping all SOCs.
2. Future research focusing on effective strategies to engage FGLMs in college is signif-
icantly needed. Because FGLMs face many challenges, colleges should consider provid-
ing vital resources that are beneficial, culturally sensitive, welcoming, and that help these
159
students to transition into college feeling better prepared and confident to persist once
they transfer to their university of choice.
3. Future studies of Latino male students in higher education will benefit greatly if the
studies are based on a cultural and ecological approach in order to better understand the
everyday, complex struggles and achievements that SOCs must overcome to earn a
college degree. FGLMs and SOCs are the fastest-growing job pool and yet the most
underutilized talent base, and this situation eventually undermines their ability to serve in
academic and other vital positions. Securing upward mobility to capitalize on the full
potential of FLGMs and SOCs will, in turn, ensure the long-term viability of future U.S.
leaders by filling future professional roles in the nation’s economy and in American
companies abroad.
4. Future research should be dedicated to thoroughly understanding the challenges and
complexities of Latinos’ economic realities, family structures, and dynamics within the context of
navigating the American traditional college education experience. This research should also take
into account cultural issues related to culture and languages related to SOCs. Moreover, once this
research is complete, it would be utterly essential to use any new knowledge to train educators
and administrators from all academic grade levels, K-12, to graduate-level degrees. This research
study as well as the research presented in the literature review highlight and demonstrate that
understanding and family support either can be the greatest motivator or validator for FGLMs or
can be a considerable detriment or distraction to FGLMs’ success and persistence. It is essential
to strategically develop strategies to proactively approach this phenomenon and give college staff
and administrators the right tools needed to help FGLMs. This is a complicated, ongoing issue
that requires culturally sensitive research and dedication.
160
5. The identification of fuerza (determination) and ganas (confidence) as essential cul-
tural assets is relatively new, and more research is recommended. Future studies that
target the differences, if any, between the different Latino nationalities and genders would
be helpful, ideal, and interesting. For example, is fuerza or ganas for Latino males differ-
ent from Latinas? Do Colombians differ from Mexicans in their expressions of reliance
on/or determination? Are there various aspects, categories, or aspects of confidence that
motivate students differently? Finally, the study of fuerza and ganas should be kept in
their proper context. While this study identified the importance of ganas and fuerza on
success and persistence, it should be noted once again that the ultimate success for
FGLMs rests with intentional, planned, and programs and support by the administrators
and college.
6. Longitudinal research on the benefits of borrowing student loans and graduating in 4 or
5 years versus graduating in 5 to 10 years and on working and going to school is sug-
gested. In the long run, is it better to graduate early with an abundance of student loan
debt or graduate later with zero to some student loan debt? This is a common question
that many Latino male students ask themselves to determine whether it is worth continu-
ing or delaying their studies, given that student loans weigh heavier on Latino and Black
students than on their White counterparts. Therefore, it would be helpful to research
further the areas of how student debt and the racial wealth gap reinforce each other, given
that generational wealth and disparities already disadvantage brown and Black families.
Therefore, does the disproportionate burden of Latino male students’ debt perpetuate the
racial wealth gap? It would be helpful and valuable to point to research dedicated to this
population and debt topic. These new data and information would also help in
161
understanding Latino families who work endlessly and who may be, as reported by
participants, putting pressure on FGLMs to delay graduating or to drop out of college
entirely.
For many of the reasons discussed in this study, debt is a tool that SOCs such as
FGLMs rely on more often compared to White students, thus potentially putting FGLMs
at higher financial risk and long-term debt. While existing literature on parental
obligation among Latino families is limited, the goal would be to find out whether Latino
parents are more likely than White parents to have child-related debt. Concerning student
debt, there has not been significant research concerning the topic of Latino students’ bor-
rowing to succeed, and it is known that racial disparities in loan counseling impact other
forms of students’ academic success. There is a significant need for additional research
and data regarding how these factors affect student graduation success and long-term
debt.
7. For this study, it was encouraging to find that all the participants who were transferring
had positive validation experiences at their community colleges. However, the researcher
focused only on the success stories and the unique barriers; therefore, this topic requires
further research. Future educational researchers could specifically focus on community
college transfer students who changed majors or dropped out of college to better under-
stand their validation experiences at their community colleges.
Conclusion
Storytelling narratives of FGLM students will be a brilliant resource for college profes-
sors, administrators, and college students, particularly those attending or working at community
colleges. For this study, the results suggested implications for future practice. First, faculty and
162
staff (i.e., professors, counselors or advisors, and administrative staff) could further validate
SOCs by initiating interactions with this student population. The subthemes that emerged from
the main themes helped to explain how the communication and relationships that took place
within and outside of the class setting were sources of support, along with validation that was
crucial because it provided affirmation toward FGLMs’ determination to finish their college
education. With changes to current policies and practice that could be further improved, admin-
istrators have the opportunity and power to make progress on ensuring that first-generation SOCs
have educators who look like them. By doing so, those educators could provide a more validating
experience and culture in which FGLMs can succeed and thrive. The complexities of working
with different ethnicities, genders, orientations, and cultures are vast and ever changing. For
community colleges, addressing the gap for SOCs, first-generation students, and Latinos/as and
providing intentional and targeted outreach efforts to FGLMs is of high priority and importance.
It should be guided by informed faculty, administrators, and research.
Many FGLMs have to overcome numerous higher education obstacles to succeed and
make themselves and their families proud. FGLMs who begin their college careers at community
colleges to earn an associate degree and eventually transfer to a college or university may not
have the money, time, or enough academic support to have what some consider a successful
college experience. Community college is almost the only pipeline that leads them to complete
their personal and academic goals (Harris & Wood, 2013). Moreover, by graduating from college,
FGLMs are in a position to change not only their quality of life for themselves but also the lives
of their family, friends, and peers, all at the same time.
In closing, for many FGLMs, community colleges are a starting point for their college
careers; however, these groups of students start college as low-income individuals who often face
163
personal and academic hurdles that go beyond the question of money. Many FGLMs come from
many aspects of life and arrive at the college doors with diverse ambitions and different learning
styles. With these disparities, low- income FGLMs are confronted with unique academic and
financial challenges that can make their community college education seem out of reach. Very
often, when these students are faced with persistent barriers, it is imperative to provide them with
sustained resources for them to succeed and budget for their education. While several community
colleges across California have been receptive to these apparently common issues, more atten-
tion, commitment, and practical efforts are needed. After all, many FGLMs who start college
without any financial resources managed somehow to emerge from the depths of poverty and
graduate from some of the nation’s most prestigious colleges.
164
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APPENDIX A: RECRUITMENT FLYER
Attention Community College Students! Are you a first-generation Mexican, Mexican- Ameri-
can, Latino, Afro-Latino community college student? If so, take part in a friendly and private
research study! In order to qualify as a participant, you must:
1) Male
2) Between 18 years old or older
3) First-Generation: Latino/Hispanic (such as those that identified themselves as Mexican,
Mexican-American, Central, and South Americans)
4) Academically driven
5) Pursuing an AA/AS degree or Transfer to a four-year private or public in- or out-of-state
institution
If so, I want to hear from you! Share your college experience, please. Interviews are done about
45 minutes to an hour and are confidential and private. The goal of this study is to understand
how first-generation Latino male students experience college and what gender, cultural, and
economic factors have contributed to their success. Your responses are kept confidential, and for
the interview, you will receive a $20 Walmart gift card. Please contact Juan Rodriguez at
XXX-XXX- XXXX or email [email address] for further information.
188
APPENDIX B: RECRUITMENT EMAIL
Subject: Invitation to participate in a confidential and private research study—$20 Walmart gift
card for your participation
Dear_____________________,
My name is Juan Rodriguez, and I am a doctorate student at the University of Southern California
(USC), where I am pursuing a Doctor of Education. I am writing to invite you to participate in my
friendly, private, and confidential research study on Voices of Latino Male Students in Southern
California’s community colleges. My study is focused on first-generation Latino male students,
because as the Latino male population grows in American society, the number of Latino male
students enrolled in college has only increased by 5 percent, and they are significantly under-
represented in higher education. The goal of my study is to find out what barriers successful
first-generation Latino male community college students experience in college and what strate-
gies they use to overcome them. According to Education Census data:
For every 120 Latinas in Kindergarten, there are 100 Latinos.
For every 150 Latinas in High School, there are 110 Latinos.
However, for every 300 Latinas in college, there are only 110 Latinos.
I understand your time is valuable; therefore, every student who participates will receive a $20
Walmart gift card. Any identifiable information and your responses will be entirely privately used
and kept confidential. The interview process should take no more than one to two hours. If you
are interested in participating, please provide a time and date that you are available to be inter-
viewed. If you have any general questions about the research, you may contact me at [email
address] or [phone number XXX-XXX-XXXX].
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Juan Rodriguez
189
APPENDIX C: FOLLOW-UP EMAIL TO POTENTIAL PARTICIPANTS
Subject: Follow-up on Research Study Participation
Dear_____________________,
I recently contacted you (please see initial email above) to invite you to participate in my private,
friendly, and confidential study on Understanding of the Unique Experiences encountered by
First-Generation Latino Male Students in Southern California Community Colleges. I would like
to follow up with you regarding your willingness to participate in my study. I understand that
your time is valuable, and I hope that you can find the time to participate in my study. If you have
any further and specific questions about the research, please contact me at [email address] or
[phone number XXX-XXX-XXXX].
I look forward to hearing from you soon, and thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Juan Rodriguez
190
APPENDIX D: INFORMED CONSENT FORM
Dissertation Title: Unique Barriers Encountered by First-Generation Latino Male Students in
Southern California Community Colleges
You are invited to participate in a doctorate research study conducted by myself, Juan Rodriguez,
MSW, from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. The results
will contribute to the completion of Juan Rodriguez’s doctorate dissertation. You were selected
as a possible participant for this study because you are a first-generation college student in your
family and an undergraduate community college student in California. Your participation is
voluntary. I invite you to participate in this study to better understand and identify the unique
cultural, economic, personal, and gender-based experiences of first-generation Latino male
students in southern California community colleges.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to explore the contributing factors that may influence first-generation
Latino male students’ persistence and academic performance. Participants will be asked to
respond to questions that may shape the likelihood of continuing their college education and
complete their degrees and transfer to a four-year-private/public in- or out-of-state institution.
Procedures of the Study
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to complete a survey that is anticipated to
take about 45 minutes to 1 hour of your time. You do not have to answer any questions you do
not want to. You may click “next” or “N/A” in the survey and move to the next question. In
addition to the survey, you will be asked to participate in an in-person, face-to-face-interview that
will be audio-recorded, which will last approximately 45 minutes to an hour in a location of your
choice. Your real name and other relevant information will not be utilized in the study. Instead, a
pseudonym will be used. If you prefer not to be audio-recorded, handwritten notes of the inter-
view will be taken instead (to respect that choice). All data collection materials will be kept in a
locked file in a password-protected computer for four years. After four years, all the data collec-
tion materials will be destroyed entirely. After all individual interviews, all transcripts are
available upon request, and transcripts can be hand delivered to all involved participants who
want to review them to ensure their accuracy and originality.
Discomforts and Potential Risks
During the interview, some questions will inquire about your experiences, and you may have
some discomfort or even feel hesitant in answering them. If you think that any part of any
question is too difficult or personal to answer, you do not have to answer. You may withdraw
from the study at any time without any consequences. Furthermore, there is a risk of loss of
confidentiality. However, to minimize this potential risk, pseudonyms will be used from the start,
and only one document will link real participant names to alias, and all study data will be stored
in a secure in a confidential and locked file cabinet. Digital data will be stored in a single, pass-
word-protected computer to overall protect participants’ identity and information. No data will be
191
revealed in any portion of the study, and all reports will be destroyed once the study serves its
purpose.
Potential Benefits to Society and/or to Society or a Specific Population
The results from this study may assist in the expansion of knowledge regarding the influence of
direct and indirect validation forms and styles and the influence of individual and environmental
factors on first-generation community college Latino students’ academic persistence and aca-
demic performance, as well as the transformation of educational policies and practices. Also, this
study may assist and inspire campus administrators/leaders or local communities to develop
programs, resources, and advocate for services that can provide suitable support students of color
need to successfully strive and navigate the higher education pipeline and achieve their ultimate
educational goals.
Compensation/Payment for Participation
By participating in this survey, you are eligible to receive a $20 Walmart gift card. Participants
will receive a gift card even if they are not able or choose not to complete the interview or other
elements of the process.
Confidentiality and Limitations
Your survey responses are anonymous and will not be linked to your name, email address, or any
other identifier. Participants have the right to review/edit the transcript of their interview. Only
the researcher and his dissertation chair will have access to all recordings; recordings will be used
only for an educational-based purpose. They will be erased after four years; in addition, the
anonymous data will be stored on a secure computer and retained at the discretion of the investi-
gator. The results of this research may be used for future research studies, made public, and
quoted in professional journals and conferences. Still, results from this study will only be
reported in an aggregated form without any potentially identifiable description connected to indi-
viduals (participants). Any information that is obtained in connection with this doctorate study
and that can be identified with participants will remain confidential and will be disclosed only
with the participants’ permission or as required by law.
Conditions of Participation and Withdrawal
Both the interview and survey are entirely voluntary, and you may choose to terminate both inter-
views and surveys at any point. If you volunteer to participate in this study, you may withdraw at
any time without consequences. You may also refuse to answer and remain in the study. The
investigator may withdraw you from this research if circumstances arise that warrant doing so. If
you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact Juan Rodriguez,
MSW, at [email address]. I sincerely thank you for your participation and your contribution to the
completion of Juan Rodriguez’s doctoral dissertation.
192
Rights of Research Subjects
Participants may withdraw their consent at any time and discontinue participation without any
penalties. Participants are not waiving any rights, legal claims, or remedies because of their
participation in this doctorate research study. If participants have questions regarding their rights
as a research subject, contact the Office for the Protection of Research Subjects, 3720 South
Flower Street, Fourth Floor, L.A., CA 90089-0702, telephone: (213) 821-1154 or email to
oprs@usc.edu
Identification of Investigators
In the event that you may have any concerns or questions about this study, you may contact the
researcher: Juan Rodriguez, at (xxx) xxx-xxxx or email [email address]. You may also contact
my dissertation chair, Dr. Briana M. Hinga, Ph.D., at hinga@rossier.usc.edu, who can be reached
at phone (213) 740-3475.
SIGNATURE OF RESEARCH SUBJECT (Participant):
I understand the conditions and procedures of my participation described above. My questions
have been answered to my satisfaction and best of my ability, and I agree to participate in this
doctorate research study. I have been given a copy of this form.
Name of Subject:
Signature of Subject:
Date: _____________________________
___ (initials) I agree to be audio-recorded.
Signature: _____________________________________
193
APPENDIX E: DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Birthplace: USA born ____ Outside the USA _____ What country: ______________
2. Age: _______
3. What is your ethnic background: ____________________________
4. Current enrollment status (full/part-time): _____________
5. Number of children (if any): _____
6. Marital status: __________________ (domestic partnership, single, married, widowed,
divorced, or separated)
7. As of now, number of units completed: 25–30, ____ 31–39 ____ 40–49 ____
50–59 ____ 60+ ____
8. Mother’s highest level of education completed, if known—if currently enrolled, highest
degree received: No schooling ___ K-9th grade level____ Some high school, no diploma
earned ____ High school graduate (diploma or GED/equivalent) ____ Some college ____
Associate’s Degree ____ Bachelor’s Degree _____Graduate Degree or Higher _____ Don’t
know ____
9. Father’s highest level of education completed, if known—if currently enrolled, highest
degree received: No schooling ___ K-9th grade level____ Some high school, no diploma
earned ____ High school graduate (diploma or GED/Equivalent) ____ Some college ____
Associate’s Degree ____ Bachelor’s Degree _____Graduate Degree or Higher _____ Don’t
know ____
10. Please choose one of the following that best describes your social class:
Lower __ Working ___ Middle ___ Upper middle ____ Upper ____
11. Describe your employment status:
12. What is your major, or your anticipated major? (You may indicate more than one if
applicable.)
194
APPENDIX F: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
I want to continue the interview by asking you a serious of relevant questions: questions about
your family and history. The questions will then transition to focus on your success and educa-
tional goals. Ultimately, the last remaining questions concentrate on the unique and complex
obstacles that you may encounter or experience while you are at your community college.
Family
1. Please describe your upbringing by being specific.
a. Please tell me about your family’s economic and financial status while you were growing
up.
b. As of now, has the economic and financial situation changed, or has it worsened for your
family? (low-middle-upper class status)
c. In what ways has your family’s financial and economic condition impacted your educa-
tional goals? Any cultural considerations?
Higher Education (Community College)
2. Please elaborate on your educational goals.
a. How were your educational goals influenced by your upbringing?
b. What are your family views about education?
3. Are you planning on obtaining an AA degree and/or transferring to a 4-year institution?
a. If you do earn an AA, what are the plans on doing with the AA degree?
b. If transferring to a 4-year institution, what school and why?
4. How are your educational goals influenced by your parents’ level of education?
5. Was going to college always one of your goals? How did you go about attending college?
6. Instead of applying to a 4-year institution right out of high school, why did you enroll in a
community college instead?
7. Why did you decide to enroll in this specific community college?
8. When and how did you decide about obtaining an AA degree and/or transferring to a 4-year
institution?
195
9. As of now, could you please tell me about your community college experience?
a. How many units are you usually enrolled in each semester?
b. Can you describe a typical day on campus for you?
c. Do you typically register for classes each semester?
d. If any, what are some hobbies or extracurricular activities that you engage in on campus?
e. As of now, are you part of any affiliated clubs/teams/organizations on campus?
f. Are you taking advantage of any campus resources/services or programs? (e.g., MESA
[Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement program], EOP&S [Extended Opportu-
nity Program and Services], REACH [Reaching, Empowering, Achieving & Completing
With Heart], CAMPS [College Admission Math Practice Services], etc.)
g. On average, about how much time do you spend on studying and on homework?
10. To better be guided with the transfer deadlines and requirements, are you utilizing the trans-
ferring and counseling student resource center?
College-Related Successes
11. So far, what have been some of your “successful experiences” that you have experienced at
your college?
12. Why do you see those experiences as successful?
13. What factors or cultural considerations contributed to that success?
a. Have your friends or peers contributed to that success?
b. Did your family support a contributing factor to your success?
14. Do you speak both Spanish and English? Is being bilingual a contributing factor to your
academic success?
Challenges
15. What are some of the challenges you’ve experienced while being a community college
student?
16. Have you found some coping mechanisms/ways to cope/deal with these challenges? What
did you find effective that has worked?
196
a. Did your family or peers play a role in overcoming these challenges? If so, what role did
they play?
b. Was there a time that you reached out to any of your instructors for guidance or support?
If so, please share the outcomes.
c. Have you visited the campus transferring resources center for guidance? If, so please share
the outcomes.
d. Do you have a student mentor? If so, how has this mentor assisted you in overcoming any
obstacles or academic challenges you encountered in college?
17. While being a student, what personality traits do you think assisted you in overcoming any
personal or academic challenges?
18. Did you encounter any difficulties specific to transferring to a 4-year institution? How did
you personally perceive the transferring process to be?
19. Who helped you with the transferring, admissions, and application fees that were a part of
the transferring process?
Thank you for your participation and time!
197
APPENDIX G: TRANSCRIPTIONIST CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
I, _____________________(transcriptionist), agree to maintain full and private confidentiality
regarding all audiotapes received from Juan Rodriguez in relationship to his doctorate research
study on The Unique Experiences Encounter by First Generation Latino Male Students in South-
ern California Community Colleges. Also, I agree:

1. To delete all individual and digital files related to the above research study from my computer
and any back-up hard drive upon completion of transcription.
2. To store all recorded audiotapes and material in a secure location and away from the public.
3. Will not duplicate or make copies of any material unless instructed otherwise by Juan Rodri-
guez.

I understand that I can be held fully responsible for any breach of this confidentiality agreement if
I disclose any of all identifiable information contained in the audiotapes or digital and recorded
files that I have been entrusted and have access to.
Transcriber’s Name (printed):
Transcriber’s Signature:
Date:
198

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The present study sought to examine unique challenges that first-generation Latino male students (FGLMs) face, along with contributing factors that helped to shape their college experience when adjusting to two community colleges in southern California. The selected institutions were large community colleges located in urban settings within Los Angeles County. Both colleges were predominantly White commuter institutions, accredited by the North America Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, an independent department accredited by the Council of Accreditation of Higher Education and the U.S. Department of Education’s national accreditation board. This storytelling, qualitative study consisted of 10 personalized interviews of currently enrolled FGLMs at both selected colleges. Participants were selected based on the following specific criteria: male, age 18 or older, first-generation Latino attending college (e.g., identifying as Mexican, Mexican American, Central and South American), and having accumulated 60+ units with goal of earning an AA or Associate of Science (AS) degree and/or planning to transfer to a 4-year private or public in-state or out-of-state institution to earn a bachelor’s degree. Participants’ ages were between 18 and 30 years old. This study identified important findings and conclusions that impacted successful FGLMs the most: (a) validation by peers, mentors, and families; (b) college academic readiness, and (c) dedication, faith, and determination. The identified barriers and other essential factors and influences should guide leaders of institutions as they allocate campus resources and develop student success programs to address student retention and persistence for FGLMs in community college settings.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Rodriguez, Juan (author)

Core Title Struggles to paths of success: voices of 10 first-generation Latino male students

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Educational Leadership

Degree Conferral Date 2022-05

Publication Date 02/08/2022

Defense Date 10/06/2021

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag attainment,Community Colleges,first-generation,Latino men,OAI-PMH Harvest,validation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Hinga, Briana M. (committee chair), Green, Alan (committee member), Washington, Alex (committee member)

Creator Email calilambda79@gmail.com,rodri29@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC110702283

Unique identifier UC110702283

Legacy Identifier etd-RodriguezJ-10382

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Rodriguez, Juan

Type texts

Source 20220214-usctheses-batch-912 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu