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Struggles build character: the impact of developmental math and the psychological, social and cultural factors that influence Latino males' persistence in STEM

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Struggles build character: the impact of developmental math and the psychological, social and cultural factors that influence Latino males' persistence in STEM

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Content 1
Running header: STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER

STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER: THE IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENTAL MATH AND
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE
LATINO MALES’ PERSISTENCE IN STEM

By:
Sorangel Paola Hernandez

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2018

Dissertation Committee: Dr. Patricia Tobey (Chair), Dr. Patrick Crispen, and Dr. Wayne Combs

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Dedication
I dedicate this dissertation and this degree to you, mom and dad. To my mom, Nanziancena
Martinez, thank you for believing in me and pushing me beyond my limitations. You taught me
how to be fearless. Mom you are the strongest woman alive! To my dad, Jose Manuel
Hernandez, thank you for showing me that anything is possible with passion, hard work, and
persistence. You taught me about work ethic, honesty, and integrity. Dad, because of you I have
grit!
I love you both with all my heart and soul.

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Acknowledgements
The process of writing this dissertation has been both extremely exciting since I am
passionate about giving back to my community, and yet very stressful. During the very stressful
times in this process, I felt blessed to have the support of my family, friends, and colleagues to
motivate me and encourage me every step of the way.
My family has been my saving grace through this process. To my mom, thank you for
always believing in me and giving me hope every day. You are my hero and the reason why I
am who I am today. To my dad, thank you for making me strong and relentless in spite of the
challenges I faced. To my partner, thank you for your love, support, and your patience. Thank
you for motivating and for helping me to stay sane amid the chaos. To my siblings and their
partners, and my lovely nieces and nephews, thank you for your encouragement, your love, and
your constant words of wisdom throughout this process. To my wonderful friends, I am so
blessed to have you as part of my family, thank you for your love, encouragement, and
understanding.
To my chair, Dr. Patricia Tobey and committee members Dr. Patrick Crispen and Dr.
Wayne Combs, thank you for your guidance and encouragement throughout this process. Your
positivity and confidence in me helped me immensely. I am grateful to share this experience
with you.
To my current supervisor, Dr. Deborah diCesare, words cannot express how grateful I am
to have you as a mentor, supervisor, and friend. Thank you for being so supportive throughout
these last two years. I am so blessed to have you not only as a supervisor, but also as a role
model. I honestly could not have done this without you.

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To my mentors who inspired me to pursue a doctorate degree, Dr. Felicito (Chito)
Cajayon and Dr. Claudia Velasco, thank you both for motivating me to make the best decision of
my life and for your guidance throughout the process. I really appreciate you both.
To my International Public Policy and Management (IPPAM) role models at USC, Dr.
Joyce Mann and Dr. Joanna Yu, thank you both for encouraging me throughout my master’s
program and believing in me throughout my Ed.D.
To my Ed.D. cohort and friends, thank you for being so welcoming and supportive during
my first semester and thereafter. Even though I started a semester late, you made me part of your
family and I am forever grateful to you.
Throughout the 12 years I have been employed in this district, I have been able to
establish long-term friendships and mentorships at every college I have worked in. Therefore, to
my colleagues throughout the district, and to my mentor Dr. Francisco Rodriguez, thank you for
always being good inspiring role models and for being my teachers throughout my career
development.
To the participants in this study, thank you for sharing your stories with me and the
academic world. Your stories have deeply inspired me and will serve as motivation to students
alike.
Finally, to the first-generation college students around the world who feel that college is
not an option, remember this: let your struggles build your character. It is hard to balance the
psychological, social, and cultural factors that can often be barriers, but if a girl from South Gate,
California who grew in a single-parent home, who did not believe college was an option can do
this, then so can you! Fight on!

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Table of Contents
Dedication 2
Acknowledgements 3
Table of Contents 5
List of Tables 8
List of Figures 9
Abstract 10
Chapter One: Introduction 11
Background of the Problem 12
Statement of the Problem 15
Purpose of the Study 15
Research Questions 16
Theoretical Framework 17
Importance of the Study 18
Delimitation and Limitations 19
Key Definitions 20
Organization of the Study 21

Chapter Two: Literature Review 23
Developmental Courses in Higher Education 23
What is Developmental Education? 24
Who Enrolls in Developmental Education? 24
Problems with Developmental Education 25
The Latino Male Achievement Gap in Higher Education 27
Variables Affecting Latino Males in Higher Education 27
The Gender Performance Gap 31
Latina/os in Math 32
Latina/os in STEM 33
The Psychosociocultural (PSC) Framework 34
Psychological Factors 36
Self-efficacy 37
Academic Identity 38
Utility Value 39
Social Factors 39
Peer, Faculty and Mentor Support 39
Family Support 41
Cultural Factors 41
Familismo 41
Gender Identity 43
Latino Masculinity 43
Promising Interventions 44
Literature Review Conclusion 46

Chapter Three: Methodology 48
Research Design 48
Why Qualitative Methods 49
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Sample and Population 50
Participants 52
Site and Access 52
Data Collection Methods 53
Observation 53
Questionnaire 54
Interview Protocols 54
Autobiography 56
Procedures 56
Data Collection Approach 58
Data Analysis 59
Interview and Observation Analysis 59
Credibility and Trustworthiness 60
Ethics 61
Conclusion 62

Chapter Four: Results 63
Who are the Participants? 64
Participant Demographics 64
Participant Profiles 67
Presentation of Findings 74
Psychological Factors 74
Motivation and Utility Value 75
Personal Characteristics 79
Fear 82
Self-Efficacy 85
Social Factors 92
College Resources, Mentor, Faculty and/or Peer Support 93
Family Support 98
Cultural Factors 103
Latino Culture 104
Latino Masculinity 107
Ethnic Identity 108
Conclusion 110

Chapter Five: Discussion 112
Summary of Findings 112
Psychological Influences 113
Social Influences 117
Cultural Influences 120
Implications for Institutional Policy 123
Implications for Practice 125
Recommendations for Research 128
Conclusion 131

References 135
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Appendices 144
Appendix A: Participant Demographic Sheet and Questionnaire 145
Appendix B: Theoretical Framework Alignment 148
Appendix C: Interview Protocol 149
Appendix D: Recruitment Flyer 151
Appendix E: Letter of Consent 152
Appendix F: Autobiography Protocol 153
Appendix G: Study Information Sheet for Research 154
Appendix H: Code Book 155
Appendix I: Orientation Observation Protocol 156

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List of Tables
Table 1. Three-Term Persistence and Completion rates at LANC 13
Table 2. Basic Skills Placement at Los Angeles North College 18
Table 3. Participant Demographics from Questionnaire 65
Table 4. Participant Degree Aspirations and GPA 66
Table 5. Participant Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) 66
Table 6: Student Demographics 67

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Psychosociocultural (PSC) Framework for Latina/os in Higher Education 35

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Abstract
The U.S. Latino male college population is challenged with various factors that attribute to the
low success of attaining a higher education degree. The purpose of this narrative study was to
understand the impact of developmental mathematics and the psychological, social, and cultural
factors that influence the persistence of Latino male students in STEM at a Southern California
community college. The qualitative study revolved around the narratives of six Latino male
college students who were pursuing a degree in a STEM field, through interviews,
autobiographies, questionnaires, and an observation. The study interpreted the literature,
presented, and discussed the findings through the psychosociocultural (PSC) framework.
Various themes emerged that influenced the persistence of the participants, including motivation
and utility value, personal characteristics, fear, self-efficacy, college resources, mentor, faculty
and/or peer support, family support, Latino family culture, Latino masculinity and ethnic
identity. Given the low participation and success of Latino males in STEM degrees, the findings
in this research study are timely as they provide various implications for practice and
recommendations for research in higher education.
Keywords: Latino male, community college, PSC, STEM, persistence.

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Chapter One: Introduction
According to Norton-Grubb and Badway (2005), access, tuition costs, and flexible
courses, are some of the many reasons students attend American community colleges. The
overarching goal for every student is to complete his/her educational goals. The authors
additionally indicate that completion at American community colleges can be defined as
transferring to a four-year university, attaining an associate’s degree, certificate, and attaining or
upgrading their job skills (Norton-Grubb & Badway, 2005). The Latino population has also
drastically increased in higher education over the past 20 years, but unfortunately, many Latino
students drop out shortly after enrolling (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007).
Many college students from different races, struggle to achieve their academic goals and
as a result, 50% of community college students drop out (Goldrick-Rab, 2010). Solórzano,
Villalpando, and Oseguera (2005) determined that out of 100 Latino elementary students,
approximately 21% will go to college and only 8% will earn a graduate degree. In California,
only 47.1% of community college students completed their degree and only 73.4% persisted
(California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO), 2016).
Although there are various possible determinants for the problem of low completion at
community colleges, one of the common indicators is the lack of preparation upon entering
college, which has become a national trend. For instance, in the United States, 68% of
community college students who first enter college are assessed and placed in at least one
developmental course in English, math, or reading (NCES, 2017). Even more alarming, the
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports that 47.9% of community college
students are enrolled in two or more developmental courses in the same semester. Unfortunately,
only 28% of community college students are likely to attain a degree within eight years
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(Attewell, Lavin, Domina, & Levey, 2006). Students who take developmental courses are far
less likely to earn a college degree or credential (Bailey, Jeong, & Cho, 2010). Enrolling in at
least one developmental course will overall extend the amount of time it takes to achieve the
educational goal. Similarly, community college students who fail to complete at least one course
during their first year have a 5% chance of achieving their educational goal of completing a
degree or certificate (CCCCO, 2013).
The following sections of this first chapter introduces the following information: the
problem of low completion, persistence, and low success rates of Latino male students who were
impacted by developmental math while trying to pursue a degree in science, technology,
engineering, or math (STEM); the purpose of the study along with the research questions; the
significance of the study; limitations and delimitations; definition of key terms; and the outline of
the study.
Background of the Problem
Los Angeles North College (LANC) (to protect the identity of the college, LANC is the
pseudonym that was selected), a two-year public community college, indicates that in the fall of
2016, only 43% of Latino male students succeeded in developmental math courses on average
(LANC, 2017). Similarly, 51% of students failed to complete or did not pass math 125, which is
required for a student to enroll in a college-level math course. More disturbingly, only 27.9% of
the students who persisted to enroll in a college-level math course after completing the
developmental math course sequence at LANC were Latino, whereas 6.2% were White and
36.7% were Asian (CCCCO, 2017). Overall, at LANC, Latino male students have the lowest
completion rates compared with other populations. The California Community Colleges’
Scorecard indicates that only 35.7% of Latino students complete (graduate/transfer or receive a
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certificate) at LANC (CCCCO, 2017) and only 14% of Latino males received a certificate or
degree between fall 2015 and spring 2016 (LANC, 2017).
LANC is part of the largest community college district in the nation. There are many
advantages associated with being part of such a large district for faculty, administration, and
students. Faculty and administrators can foster greater connections, increase collaboration with
other campuses, share best practices, and disseminate data. Additionally, students have access to
enroll in one community college as their primary college but can also take courses at the other
colleges if needed. Students avoid going through the enrollment process and do not have to
retake the assessment test or obtain a new academic plan from their counselor. Students are able
to register easily to take the course as long as the prerequisites are met. Being part of such a
large district helps students in accessibility and flexibility. In the last decade, LANC’s student
population has steadily increased. Despite LANC’s large enrollment (18,885 students, Fall
2016), the college confronts a “shadow enrollment” of students who fail to complete or pass
classes during their first term in college, and (too frequently) give up on college after a single
term. LANC data indicates that Latino students who enroll in at least three consecutive terms are
likely to persist and, therefore, when persistence is defined within this context, Latino students
seem to be successful. However, further examination indicates that 14% of Latino male students
complete. Table 1 identifies the low percentage of Latino students who completed a degree,
certificate, or transferred to a four-year-institution.
Table 1
Three-Term Persistence and Completion Rates at LANC
Latino Students (%) 3-Term Persistence Latino Completion Latino Male
Completion
49.4% 76.1% 39% 14%
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Within these low rates, an obvious achievement and equity gap exists among the student
population. At LANC, the Latino student population rank far below the intended improvement
levels, especially for Latino males. Despite careful planning and student success initiatives at
LANC that focus on improving the overall success of both Latino and Black males, there has
been a lack of improvement in the persistence and completion of developmental courses for these
populations (LANC, 2017).
Contributing factors to the poor academic preparation of students at LANC are the
socioeconomic factors and levels of education of students who graduate from the feeder high
schools. A study by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education
(2014) found that fewer students are on track to graduate high school on time within the
LAUSD. The study further emphasized that after four years in high school, only 16% of students
completed courses preparing them for college, whereas 59% of students graduated on time. Only
one out of four high school graduates had completed college entrance requirements.
Since LANC primarily serves students from LAUSD, they inherit the completion
problem from low-performing Los Angeles high schools. As a result, the service area served by
LANC, has a higher percentage of individuals that do not attain a high school diploma compared
with the national average. Since a large segment of the service area lacks higher education, this
presents unique challenges for LANC. It is important to focus on the impact of developmental
math and the psychological, social, and cultural factors that affect the persistence of Latino male
students since the Latino population at LANC continues to steadily grow and will eventually
surpass half of the student body.

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Statement of the Problem
The lack of success in developmental education, especially in developmental math, of
Latino males leads to low retention, persistence, and completion rates for this population. LANC
Fall 2016 data reports that out of the 27.9% of Latino/as who persist from developmental math to
college-level math, 41% were Latino males and only 14% of Latino male students attain a
degree, certificate, or transfer. When a student places in a developmental course during their
placement exam, they are likely to extend their two-year commitment up to four to six years
depending on the level of remediation and the degree type (CCCCO, 2013). When students
place in college-level math and English during their assessment exam, they are more likely to
achieve their academic goals (CCCCO, 2013). Data shows that 71% of students who place in
college-level courses complete a certificate, degree, or transfer (CCCCO, 2013). At LANC, 59%
of Latino students who placed in a college-level math course, completed a certificate, degree or
transferred (CCCCO, 2016). This problem is even more troublesome for the large number of
Latino male students who were placed in developmental math but are pursuing a career in a
STEM-related career.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this narrative study was to understand the impact that developmental
mathematics has on Latino male students who were interested in pursuing a degree in a STEM-
related field at LANC. The study revolved around the narratives of Latino male students who
were interested in or were pursuing a degree in a STEM-related field and who initially placed
into a developmental math course, at least one level below a college-level math course. The
study examined Latino males’ narratives while focusing on the psychological, social, and
cultural factors that influence their persistence. The study included Latino male students’
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perspectives of programs and/or initiatives, if any, that have been established at LANC to
support students who place or who were currently enrolled in developmental mathematics.
Although many Latino males aspire to achieve degrees in STEM-related fields, a STEM
career may seem unattainable since many Latino males at LANC are likely to place in a
developmental math course during their placement exam. Generally, transfer degrees in a
STEM-related field required advanced courses in life or physical sciences, and many of these
courses require high levels of math as prerequisites, which automatically extend the two-year
transfer goal to three or more years. Therefore, when students place two to three levels below a
transfer level course, their educational goal is extended by at least one year, so they become
discouraged from pursuing a STEM-related field (CCCCO, 2013). This may be discouraging for
a student who has to work full-time or has other responsibilities. This may lead students to give
up and drop out of college.
Research Questions
The study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the following questions based on
Latino male students’ narratives:
1. What are the concerns of Latino male students who begin the pursuit of a STEM-
related degree while initially placing in a developmental math course?
2. What are the perceived psychological, social, and cultural factors that impact Latino
male students’ persistence?
3. What are the Latino male students’ perceptions of the support programs, placement
process, and the role of counselors, faculty, and administration in facilitating support?

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Theoretical Framework
The study utilized the psychosociocultural (PSC) model as a framework to assist in
identifying the impact of developmental math on Latino males who were interested in pursuing a
career in a STEM-related field. To truly understand the factors that affect the success of Latino
male students, it is crucial to examine common psychological, social, and cultural factors
(Castellanos & Gloria, 2007). Latino male students are often faced with the stressful need to
balance cultural values, familismo theory, and prioritize between home and school. Therefore,
examining their narratives through a PSC framework enables a deeper understanding of their
experiences and their effect on success.
According to Gloria and Rodriguez (2000), the PSC framework focuses on the
psychological factors that include both self-efficacy and self-esteem, the social factors that
include family and mentors, and the cultural factors that include congruity and ethnic identity. In
other words, all three factors can influence persistence either positively or negatively. This
model has been often used in higher education to develop interventions that can positively affect
the persistence of various minority college students within Latino, Black, and Asian populations
(Castellanos & Gloria, 2007).
Furthermore, the PSC framework will guide both the literature review and the data
analysis sections of this study. By using this type of framework, recommendations of programs
that can support the success of Latino male students will be provided at the end of the study. The
PSC framework will be examined further in the next chapter along with a literature review
focusing on the three dimensions of this framework.

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Importance of the Study
LANC enrolls students from some of the most impoverished communities in Los Angeles
County’s San Fernando Valley. The proportion of Latino students who transition to college-
level or reach completion is lower than the college-wide average at LANC. Table 2
demonstrates that a large proportion of Latino students place in basic English and/or math
compared with the rest of the population at LANC.
Table 2
Basic Skills Placement at LANC
Subject Latino Students Total Population
English 76% 69%
Math 98% 96%

In terms of developmental education, the scorecard reports the percentage of credit
students who first enrolled in a course below transfer level in three categories, remedial math,
remedial English and English as a Second Language (ESL) during 2010-2011 and completed a
college-level course in the same discipline within the six-year period (CCCCO, 2017).
Low success in developmental mathematics affects everyone at LANC, particularly the
student population who are the primary stakeholders. LANC’s mission is to support students to
advance through their educational journeys, yet students are struggling to move forward due to
developmental math courses.
Furthermore, the narratives of the Latino male college students in this study better
identified the impact of developmental math on their educational path. Specifically, this study
provided rich data to administration in higher education concerning the knowledge of how
developmental math affects this population by examining psychological, social, and cultural
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factors through the lens of the PSC framework (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007). In addition, this
study may help administrators address the problem of low persistence in developmental math of
this population at their institution by developing interventions that focus on the three factors.
The next section includes the limitations and delimitations of this study.
Delimitations and Limitations
Although the results and findings of this study can contribute to the existing literature,
help develop interventions and programs, and change existing policies at institutions to better
serve Latino males, there are delimitations and limitations that must be addressed. First, due to
the small sample of only six Latino male students, this study may not be generalizable. While
this study cannot be generalizable and therefore cannot speak for all Latino male students, it is
important to point out that the intensive interview process, narrative design, and applied research
approach can still help educators address various concerns within their institutions. Similarly,
since this data was collected at a public community college in Southern California within a large
district, the findings are context-specific, and therefore cannot be generalized.
Second, a common issue for internal validity in a qualitative study is often characterized
as the credibility of the study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In this case, researcher bias may be a
limitation of the study. Since the researcher identifies herself as a Latina, Guatemalan-
American, first-generation, community college graduate, who grew up in a single-parent, low-
income household, this may introduce bias. However, as recommended by Merriam and Tisdell
(2016), to avoid having issues of credibility, triangulation methods were used by cross-checking
data collected through follow-up interviews, information checks, and comparison with different
forms of data. Member checks were included throughout the data analysis to ensure an authentic
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depiction of each participant. The next section will identify key terms and definitions that must
be clarified before examining the literature review.
Key Definitions
Completion at a California community college can be defined as completing a degree,
certificate, or transfer related outcome within six years (CCCCO, 2013).
Development education is often referred to as remedial education or basic skills and can
be defined as courses that are offered to students who lack the essential academic skills to be
considered college ready, including courses in English, math, and writing (NCES, 2017). For the
purposes of this study, the terms remedial, developmental, and basic skills will be used
interchangeably.
Familismo is comprised of Latino males’ cultural values that include loyalty,
commitment, dedication, and support to their family (Lugo Steidel, & Contreras, 2003; Marin &
Marin, 1991). In familismo, the Latino male prioritizes the needs of the family before their own
needs (Schwartz, 2007).
Latino/as is a comprehensive term that refers to a person who was born or lives in
Central America, South America, Mexico, Caribbean or a person in the U.S. whose family is
from any of the above countries regardless of race (Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary,
2016). Although the term Hispanic is not used frequently in this study, the terms Latino/as and
Hispanic will be used interchangeably when including studies that have used the term Hispanic
instead of Latino/as.
Persistence is defined as the commitment to pursue an activity or task over time in the
face of obstacles and distractions (Clark & Estes, 2008; Rueda, 2011). For the purposes of this
study, I will refer to persistence in terms of Latino male motivation.
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Persistence rate is defined as the percentage of degree and/or transfer seeking students
who enroll in three consecutive semesters within the California Community College System
(CCCCO, 2013).
Student Success Scorecard is a performance measurement system developed by
CCCCO. The student success scorecard is now used as the primary performance measurement
system and it is meant to increase transfer and degree attainment (CCCCO, 2013). One hundred
and thirteen California Community Colleges must abide by this mandate to promote
transparency; the California Community Colleges is the largest system in the nation with an
estimated 2.3 million students (CCCCO, 2013). The student success scorecard provides data for
the California Community Colleges in terms of remedial instruction, job-training programs,
retention of students and graduation and completion rates.
STEM is the abbreviation of science, technology, engineering, or math.
Organization of the Study
Chapter Two reviews and analyzes literature that focuses on the background of
developmental math, the Latino male achievement gap, and Latinos in STEM. Additionally,
Chapter Two discusses the PSC framework including context, strengths, and weaknesses, and
provides a literature review through the lens of the PSC framework. Finally, the chapter
discusses promising interventions that may be successful in the achievement of Latino male
students.
Chapter Three focuses on the methodology of this study including the reasoning behind
selecting a qualitative research design, sample and population, instruments used, data collection
processes, and data analysis.
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Chapter Four presents the findings of this study, which includes providing participants’
profiles, demographics, and a presentation of the data.
Finally, Chapter Five discusses the findings, which includes a discussion of the findings,
implications for practice, and future research and conclusions.

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Chapter Two: Literature Review
The U.S. Latino college population is challenged with various external and personal
factors that attribute to the low success of attaining a higher education degree, including the low
success in developmental math for which scholars have determined an achievement gap for the
Latino male (Sáenz et al., 2016). Overall, the literature review examines the various factors
affecting Latino male students in five sections.
The first section focuses on examining the background and impact of developmental
education on the Latino population in higher education. The second section discusses the Latino
male achievement gap and possible indicators for low achievement and persistence in higher
education. The third section examines Latina/os in STEM-related fields. The fourth section
provides further context on the PSC framework and examines the literature through this
framework. Finally, the fifth section discusses promising interventions that have been proven to
help Latino males succeed in higher education.
Developmental Courses in Higher Education
Community colleges are committed to teaching each student college-level material to
prepare them for their next academic phase; yet most students, especially Latino students, enroll
but are not prepared to compete at the community college-level (Norton-Grubb & Badway,
2005). The Student Success Initiative of 2012 incentivized community colleges in California
with additional funding to increase retention and completion (CCCCO, 2013). To achieve this
objective, the district created a mandate to hold colleges accountable for the additional funding.
The mandate included that all students who enroll at any of the nine community colleges in the
district, are required to attend an orientation, complete English and math placement tests, and
meet with a counselor and receive an educational plan before they can enroll in any courses
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(LACCD, 2013). In turn, this policy drastically increased the number of students who underwent
the new matriculation process and thus, the results indicated that 81% of students are placed in at
least one developmental course. In the next sections, I discuss the purpose, population enrolled,
and issues related to developmental education.
What is Developmental Education?
Development education is often referred to as remedial education or basic skills and can
be defined as courses that are offered to students who lack the essential academic skills to be
considered college ready, including courses in English, math, and writing (NCES, 2017).
Developmental math is often characterized as a gatekeeper subject for Latino students (Sáenz &
Ponjuán, 2011). The problem of developmental math not only affects Latino males, it is a
college-wide issue with 41% of first-time community college students taking at least one
remedial course in reading, writing, or mathematics (Jenkins & Boswell, 2002). Jenkins and
Boswell (2002) additionally indicated that 22% of students attending four-year public institutions
enrolled in at least one remedial course.
Who Enrolls in Developmental Education?
Bettinger and Long (2005) reported that the demographic of students who require
remedial instruction are recent high school graduates and immigrants and working adults who
have been out of school for some time and return to college. The population of developmental
education also varies from students who academically performed poorly in high school to
students who were struggling in a single subject. Bettinger and Long (2005) added that low-
income, Latino and Black students enroll in more remediation courses than their White middle-
class peers. For example, they reported that 41% of Latino students in the U.S. required
developmental math courses compared with 31% of White students.
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Problems with Developmental Education
The demand for remedial education has increased significantly over the past 10 years,
particularly at the community colleges due to the open admissions policies and no minimum
academic preparation requirement (Levin & Calcagno, 2008). According to Jenkins and Boswell
(2002), the significant increase in the number of remedial courses at community colleges is in
response to the new policies across the country discouraging four-year institutions from offering
remedial education. They further reported that 22% of students attending four-year public
institutions enrolled in at least one developmental course. Additionally, they reported that
Alaska, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, have decided against allowing state financial aid to
pay for remedial education. As a result, students were forced to attend community colleges for
developmental education.
According to Levin and Calcagno (2008), an additional 10 states have made various
policy changes to prevent or discourage developmental courses at four-year public institutions,
including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, South Carolina,
Utah, and Virginia. Mostly, these policies were implemented due to the costs and low efficiency
caused by the completion rates of students enrolled in developmental education. Some public
universities are additionally implementing stricter initiatives. According to Jenkins and Boswell
(2002), the City University of New York (CUNY) eliminated developmental education at the
four-year institutions thus minimizing access for various students. This decision led various
CUNY students who required remedial courses to first attend community colleges (Jenkins &
Boswell, 2002). Overall, the substantial cost and the large number of students enrolled in
developmental courses is what led these states to phase out remedial instruction at four-year
universities/colleges (Levin & Calcagno, 2008; Jenkins & Boswell, 2002). However,
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STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
approximately 40 states allow public higher education institutions to use state funds for remedial
education, which is often a big concern for policy makers (Jenkins & Boswell, 2002).
Levin and Calcagno (2008) reported that costs for developmental courses across higher
education institutions were between $1 and $2 billion. In comparison, another report estimated
the costs of remedial education at $2.3 billion annually (Jenkins & Boswell, 2002). The costs of
developmental education affect students greatly due to the reducing higher education budgets.
Another widely discussed problem relating to developmental education is the length of
time that students spend taking developmental courses in addition to their general coursework,
especially if they are seeking a STEM degree. Developmental education usually lengthens the
time to obtain a degree because many of the developmental courses do not count as credit
towards a degree, certificate, or transfer (Bettinger & Long, 2005). For instance, Bailey, Jenkins,
and Leinbach, (2005) reported that 25% of students who place in three levels below college-level
math and English, drop out of college and do not return. They further identified three-year
persistence rates nationwide indicating a sad reality for students who enroll in developmental
math courses; only 44% of students complete their developmental English sequence and only
31% of students complete their developmental math sequence. This leads to overall low
completion rates since only 25% of community college students who enroll in developmental
instruction complete within an eight-year timeframe (Bailey et al., 2005; Bettinger & Long,
2005). Furthermore, many courses offered in the community colleges require prerequisite
courses to be completed before enrolling, which usually fall under developmental education. As
a result, this hinders students from making academic progress and obtaining their degree.

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STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
The Latino Male Achievement Gap in Higher Education
The Latino male issues identified in colleges began to concern educators as the numbers
of Latinos in college began to grow drastically. McNamara (1970) focused on the problem of
Latino males who suffered from higher attrition rates than other groups, including White and
Black males. The data demonstrated that, specifically in Latino males, the retention rates
dropped from 16% in 1966 to 11% in 1967 and that the issue of retention is even more alarming
when the focus became first-term persistence (McNamara, 1970). Unfortunately, the data
indicated that 36% of Mexican American freshman dropped out during the fall semester in 1969
(McNamara, 1970).
Although the number of Latino male students enrolling in higher education has drastically
increased over the past three decades in various institutions statewide, only 14.2% of Latino males
receive a bachelor’s degree or higher, drastically falling behind the total U.S. percentage of 32%
(Sáenz et al., 2016). Sáenz and colleagues (2016) further reported that even at an early age,
Latino males fall behind all other populations in educational achievement and that a contributing
factor to this performance gap is that 54.9% of White male children are more likely to be
enrolled in early childhood programs before the age of five compared with Latino male children
at only 39.4%.
Variables Affecting Latino Males in Higher Education
In the seminal article, “The Vanishing Latino Male in Higher Education”, Sáenz and
Ponjuán (2009) examined variables and characteristics of the Latino males that may be
influencing their success in higher education, including home, family, high school students’
college preparatory behaviors, and financial aid literacy. They found that 38.4% of Latino
males’ parents’ first language is a non-English language (Sáenz & Ponjuán, 2009). This affects
28
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Latino males because of the separation between home and school languages. First, all primary
and secondary school work is in English; therefore, students with non-speaking English parents
have less support with their schoolwork. Additionally, they found that an alarming 68.1% of
Latino male’s parents completed high school or less, which means that Latino males struggle to
make attending college a viable task when most of their direct role models did not attend college
(Sáenz & Ponjuán, 2009). Sáenz and Ponjuán (2009) also indicated that 30.3% of Latino males’
families are below the poverty threshold. This problem encourages Latino males who are under
the poverty threshold to make other things a priority instead of college such as working full-time.
Finally, Sáenz and Ponjuán (2009) reported that many Latino males seek other opportunities to
provide support to their families. Consequently, students lack postsecondary training, which
leads to dropping out from high school, limited job stability, military recruitment, or even prison
(Sáenz & Ponjuán, 2009).
The Latino population achievement gap has been significantly affected by remedial
education along with several factors, including personal and environmental factors. Sáenz and
Ponjuán (2011) defined personal factors as being characterized by those factors that are
inherited, such as family and personal attributions, while environmental factors are characterized
as being outside factors. In their research, they found that Latino students face various personal
factors, including lower family income, parental education level, and poor academic preparation
(Sáenz & Ponjuán, 2011). Due to lower family income and lower parental education, many
Latino male students are typically enrolled in community colleges part-time so they can maintain
their full-time employment to serve the needs of their family. For instance, only 46% of Latino
students were enrolled full-time in California community colleges (Contreras & Contreras,
2015). Enrolling part-time in community college can affect students by extending their expected
29
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
graduation date from two years to four years. Even more discouraging, if part-time students
place in developmental courses during their assessment exam, this may add an additional two
years to their post-secondary studies, for six years in a community college on average. As stated
above, this turn of events usually delays students and often discourages them from persisting.
Furthermore, Sáenz (2016) examined high school 11
th
grade students’ college preparatory
behaviors of Latino, Asian, Black, and White populations through a nationally represented
survey conducted by NCES. The researcher selected a weighted sample of 2.083 million 11
th

graders and found that over 85% of Latino male students had access to programs that informed
students about going to college and facilitated filling out college applications and financial aid
applications (Sáenz, 2016). Additionally, only 58.3% of Latino male students talked to a
counselor about options after high school and 30.1% took a course to prepare for a college
admissions exam (Sáenz, 2016). The study emphasized the programs that were available to most
students who were interested in attending college; however, 50% of Latino males are not seeking
these resources (Sáenz, 2016). Similarly, the study also found that financial literacy was also a
significant deficiency within Latino male students, as 47% of Latino male students reported not
knowing what the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) was and although 33% did
know, they did not apply because they did not know about the process (Sáenz, 2016). This is
especially difficult because 30.3% of the Latino males’ families fall under the poverty threshold
and qualify for financial aid (Sáenz, 2016). This study highlighted the nationwide access that
students have to programs at their high schools, which could help Latino male students to apply
to college, prepares them to attend college, and exposes them to access methods of college
funding. Unfortunately, many Latino male students fail to seek out the services.
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STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Furthermore, other factors that challenge persistence rates in Latino males have been
noted as low degree aspirations and lack of knowledge of the available degree programs, and
students who were enrolled in a non-professional (non-vocational) school and not entering
college straight out of high school, such as transfer students, veterans, housewives, etc. (Sáenz,
2016). Other factors include not assimilating to the college culture, including being a member of
a sorority-fraternity or college groups, living off campus and commuting to class, and having a
low college grade point average (Tsai & Perry, 1975). Various scholars have agreed on the
various barriers that Latino males struggle with, but the most common were financial, academic
preparation, and unexpected events, such as death or health-related problem involving a close
family member (Ojeda, Navarro, & Morales, 2011; Sáenz & Ponjuán, 2009; Sáenz et al., 2016;
Tsai & Perry, 1975).
There are various instrumental outside factors that affect the college persistence of Latino
males, including family or parental support, social and financial support, and professors and
campus organizations (Sy & Romero, 2008). According to Hernandez and Lopez (2005), similar
personal factors affecting the success of the Latino males included previous high school grade
point average (GPA), academic self-concept, motivation, and the role of family and finances.
Family ties are very important to maintain for this population across generations; however,
family can serve as emotional support and a stressor (Ojeda & Castillo, 2016). This theory is
called familismo, which will be discussed further in the next section of this literature review
under the cultural factors affecting Latino males.
Finances also play a major role in the retention of students since paying for college is
often considered a burden to the family (Ojeda & Castillo, 2016; Sy & Romero, 2008). Many
Latino male college students must work at least part-time to finance their education and support
31
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
their family, while trying to avoid debt. In fact, most Latino males are expected to work at a
very young age and, unfortunately, with only a high school education and little experience, the
job market becomes very limited (Ojeda & Castillo, 2016). For instance, Sáenz et al. (2016)
found that 26.8% of Latino males work in blue-collar service jobs, such as construction, repair,
or maintenance. Thus, Latino males earn approximately $27,490 per year working full-time;
meaning when compared to the rest of the population, Latino males earn 53.5% less income
(Sáenz et al., 2016)
The Gender Performance Gap
From 1988 to 1998, the enrollment rates for Latino students in colleges increased by 85%
(Hernandez & Lopez, 2005). Although evidence indicates that more Latina/os are going to
college, Latina/os have fallen behind in earning undergraduate degrees compared with other
populations. In recent decades, the focus has been on the gender gap. Latinas are graduating
from four-year institutions at a higher rate than the Latino males (Hernandez & Lopez, 2005).
Sáenz and Ponjuán (2011) indicated that only 38.4% of Latino males complete a combined
associate’s and/or bachelor’s degree, whereas 61.6% of Latinas complete a combined associate’s
and/or bachelor’s degree. Latinas are 23.2% more likely to complete a combined associate’s
and/or bachelor’s degree than their Latino male counterpart (Hernandez & Lopez, 2005).
Latinas are also excelling at a higher rate than Latino males in all categories within the
educational pipeline (Ceja, 2006). Even from a young age, Latina female children do better in
elementary and secondary schools than Latino male children (Crosnoe, Riegle-Crumb, Field,
Frank & Muller, 2008). A possible determinant is that Latina female children are more likely to
be enrolled in early childhood programs before the age of five, compared with Latino male
children (Sáenz et al., 2016). Research by Portes and Schauffler (1994) indicated that the
32
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
differences in educational achievement stems from an early age influencing their language ability
and usage at home. Latinas have greater language fluency in Spanish and English than Latino
males. In turn, between 4
th
and 8
th
grades, Latino male children are twice as more likely to
repeat a grade compared with Latina female girls (Sáenz et al., 2016). As a result, many Latinas
have a head start before even starting higher education.
Another possible determinant for the achievement gap between the two genders within
the Latino student population may be due to behavioral issues that began at an early age. Sáenz
and colleagues (2016) have thoroughly examined the achievement gap between Latino males and
Latinas. Learning and behavioral challenges play a major role in the persistence of Latino males
compared with other students, including Latinas. Furthermore, Sáenz et al. (2016) indicated that
Latino males are more likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability, placed in special
education, and be diagnosed with serious emotional and behavioral disorders. Additionally,
there is large disparity between Latino male children and White male children in behavioral
problems and, even more alarming, among Latino male children and Latina female children
(Sáenz et al., 2016). Data indicates that 29.6% of Latino male children from grades 6
th
through
12
th
have been suspended compared with 21.3% White males and 14.1% Latina female children
(Sáenz et al., 2016). This indicates that due to behavioral issues that Latino males face, they are
more likely to miss more school than Latinas, which may play a role in the achievement gap
among genders.
Latina/os in Math
Math has been branded as a gatekeeper subject in most areas of education and,
unfortunately, Latina/os have a significant lower early success rate in math courses compared
with White students (Fajardo, Hernandez, & Muñoz, 2016). The problem of low success in math
33
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
courses for Latina/os stems from their high school experience, where they have fallen behind the
White populations in math test scores and course completion (Trusty, 2002). Latina/os
additionally take fewer advanced math courses compared with their White counterparts (Fajardo
et al., 2016). The reason for this is that predominantly Latino high schools focus on building
basic concepts as opposed to increasing the number of students who qualify to take advanced
math courses (Ceja, 2006). For instance, only 34% of Latina/os take an advanced math course
by the time they graduate high school, whereas the rest of the population struggle in remedial
mathematics (KewalRamani, Gilbertson, Fox, & Provasnik, 2007). Overall, Latina/o students
have historically struggled in math courses compared with other populations.
In the previous section, I identified various factors that affect the success of the Latino
males, including their success in math. The literature determined various possible indicators
why Latina/os enter college and assess in developmental math courses. Unfortunately, for
Latino male students who were interested in attaining a degree in STEM, if they assess in a
developmental math course during their placement exam, it is likely that they will struggle
through the pipeline as discussed in the next section.
Latina/os in STEM
The lack of success in mathematics is often a barrier for Latina/os who are interested in
achieving a STEM degree compared with their White peers (Riegle-Crumb, 2006). Nationwide,
46,336 Latina/os were enrolled in a STEM degree, whereas 147,205 chose another field—that is
31% of the Latino population strived to achieve a STEM degree (Johnson, 2016). Although this
shows a great interest in STEM fields by Latina/os, they are being held back because they are
unable to complete the STEM-related coursework (Lu, 2015). In fact, Latino male students are
34
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
more likely to pursue a STEM degree than their White peers but are less likely to complete their
degree than their White peers (Riegle-Crumb, Moore & Ramos-Wada, 2011).
It is important to note that most Latino males pursuing a degree in STEM are struggling
to meet the minimal requirements in English and math (Sáenz & Ponjuán, 2009). For example,
in 2010, only 8% of Latina/os earned a degree in a STEM field although 36% of the initial
population interested in STEM was Latino (Lu, 2015). Another report indicated that Latino
males made up 18.5% of the total population enrolled in a STEM program, but unfortunately, a
mere 5% of Latino male students graduate with a STEM-related degree (Toldson & Esters,
2012).
The research of Latina/os and STEM indicates that Latino males have great interest in
attaining a degree in a STEM-related field; unfortunately, they fail to persist and lack degree
attainment. This study aims to understand if developmental math is the reason why students do
not attain STEM-related degrees and/or additional factors in effect, including psychological,
social, and cultural factors. Therefore, in the next section, I will discuss the PSC framework and
the purpose of using the framework in this study. I then continue to analyze the literature
through the PSC framework.
The Psychosociocultural (PSC) Framework
The PSC framework was initially developed by counselors to provide services to Latino
undergraduate students that focused on increasing their personal well-being to succeed in higher
education within a university context (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007). PSC has been used as an
empirically tested conceptual framework that examines the persistence of different types of
Latina/os, including Latino males, as well as other minority groups such as Black, Asian, and
others (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007). The PSC framework looks at the psychological, cultural,
35
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
and social dimensions simultaneously, as all dimensions provide an understanding of academic
persistence issues for Latino students.

Figure 1. Psychosociocultural (PSC) framework for Latina/os in higher education (Castellanos &
Gloria, 2007).

As stated in Figure 1, the PSC framework has three major dimensions that include
psychological, social, and cultural, with critical common individual variables that affect each
dimension (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007). For example, according to Gloria and Rodriguez
(2000), the psychological dimension includes self-efficacy and self-esteem and can include self-
beliefs and attitudes, including motivation as variables or sub-variables. The social dimension
includes family and mentors as support agents, which can also include various support
organizations, such as being part of a fraternity or an academic club. The cultural dimension
includes ethnic identity and congruity, which also includes acculturation and issues with gender
roles (Gloria & Rodriguez, 2000). Castellanos and Gloria (2007) further emphasized the need to
include familismo under cultural influences, since it is a theory that focuses on cultural
36
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
expectations, which will be described in this chapter under cultural factors. Although the PSC
framework has typically been used in a university context, this framework will be applied to
community college Latino male students in efforts to move past the underachievement narratives
towards an understanding of developing programs that can improve the success of Latino male
students.
The PSC framework was selected for this study because various empirical studies
focusing on Latino males have found this framework to be useful in understanding the needs of
this population and in developing programs that will support their student success. This study
provides implications that can assist this population by focusing on the psychological, social, and
cultural factors that affect this population in persisting to attain their degree (Castellanos &
Gloria, 2007; Gloria & Rodriguez, 2000). As far as weaknesses of the PSC framework, based on
various empirical studies, lack of generalizability, self-reported answers, and convenience
sampling can all lead to short comings in the findings of the study (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007;
Gloria & Rodriguez, 2000). To understand the PSC framework fully, the following section
organizes the literature into three sections that will focus on each dimension of the PSC
framework, including psychological, social, and cultural.
Psychological Factors
The first dimension within the PSC framework focuses on analyzing the psychological
factors that affect Latino/as student persistence. The psychological variables include a student’s
self-efficacy, motivation, self-esteem, academic identity, and personal beliefs (Gloria &
Rodriguez, 2000). This section will focus on the psychological factors that affect Latino/as
students’ persistence.
37
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Various causes may indicate low or high success in mathematics of Latino male
students. Fajardo et al. (2016) identified a statistically significant relationship between various
psychological factors, including math identity, math self-efficacy, and math utility. In their
study, they gathered data from the NCES and focused on the math attitudes, experiences, and
perceptions of 11
th
grade Latino/a students, which included 1,617 Latino males and 1,654
Latinas (Fajardo et al., 2016).
Self-efficacy. Self-efficacy can be defined as people’s own judgements and beliefs of
achieving a level of performance based on their capability to organize and execute the course of
action (Rueda, 2011). Rueda (2011) indicated various factors that influence the self-efficacy of
an individual, such as prior knowledge, the type of previous feedback, and previous successes
and failures. High self-efficacy is vital to the academic success of the student because it affects
action, motivation, effort, and persistence (Bandura, 1986). Fajardo et al. (2016) confirmed that
Latino male students who have high math self-efficacy are more likely to persist through the
assignments and complete the math course because they have the confidence to continue with the
math course when it gets difficult (Hoffman & Schraw, 2009). Equally, students who have math
anxiety are more likely to struggle in their math courses because they are entering the course
with negative beliefs due to their past experiences with math (Maloney & Beilock, 2012).
Furthermore, for a Latino male to be successful when considering a degree in a STEM
field, it is crucial for them to feel self-efficacious about math (Fajardo et al., 2016; Pajares, 2005;
Wang, 2013). Students who overachieve in math courses are more likely to be interested in
STEM-related careers and be successful with overall positive outcomes (Adelman, 2006;
Crosnoe & Schneider, 2010; Fajardo et al., 2016; Wang, 2013). Overall, students with higher
38
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
levels of self-efficacy believe in their own competence and have higher expectations of positive
outcomes, and thus, are more likely to begin, persist, and complete a task (Rueda, 2011).
Academic identity. Similarly, according to Fajardo et al. (2016), students who identify
themselves as being successful in math due to prior experiences with the subject usually do
better than most. More specifically, their study indicated that Latino male students who identify
themselves and are identified by others as math individuals are more likely to persist and do
better in math courses (Fajardo et al., 2016). Rueda (2011) defined this concept as students’
attributions, which are the beliefs that one has about the reasons for success or failures and the
amount of control they have in changing that outcome. Unfortunately, the Latino population
does not make this identification until they are placed in an advanced math course, such as
calculus in high school (Purdie-Vaughn, Steele, Davies, Ditlmann, & Crosby, 2008). Various
scholars also indicated that students who begin developing a high math identity since elementary
school are more likely to persist through the educational pipeline (Fajardo et al., 2016; Hemphill
& Vanneman, 2011; Smith & Hausafus, 1998). Therefore, having a math identity as part of the
self-beliefs or attributions of the student can increase motivation and help students persist within
their math course.
Furthermore, in his study, Lu (2015) interviewed 12 Latino male students who were
enrolled in a STEM degree at a large, predominantly White university. Using the science
identity framework (Carlone & Johnson, 2007) that encompasses competence, performance, and
recognition, Lu (2015) found that students’ identities were developed through being part of a
science community. He also stressed that being part of this community helped participants feel
as though they were part of an elite group where their science identities were both encouraged
and cultivated (Lu, 2015).
39
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Utility value. The third psychological factor that affects Latino male students’
persistence is the concept of utility value. Rueda (2011) defined utility value as the personal
concept of believing how useful completing the task would be in achieving a future goal. Math
utility is another factor that influences students’ success in mathematics. Typically, Latino
students who find math to be important for their career choice and future success are more likely
to succeed in their math course (Fajardo et al., 2016). Overall, the study determined that
Latina/os are more likely to suffer from math anxiety due to their previous success in math
courses, and most Latina/o students are less likely to consider themselves as math people
compared with other populations (Fajardo et al., 2016). Their study indicated that there is a
statistically significant relationship between positive outcomes of Latino males and high levels of
self-efficacy, academic identity, and utility value (Fajardo et al., 2016).
Social Factors
The second dimension of the PSC framework focuses on social support variables that
affect the persistence of Latino male students (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007). Some social support
variables include family, peers, and mentors. This section will focus on the support variables
that affect the persistence of Latina/os students.
Peer, faculty, and mentor support. Various scholars have found that strong peer social
support can lead to Latino students’ academic success (Alva, 1991; Fajardo et al., 2016; Gibson,
Gandara, & Koyama, 2004; Stanton-Salazar, 2001). In their study, Fajardo et al. (2016) found a
strong relationship with Latino male students’ high math test scores and being part of a peer
social network that includes students who have good grades, plan on attending college or
university, and who have taken at least one standardized college entrance exam. They further
40
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
emphasized the importance of being part of a sorority or academic group to be able to succeed in
more challenging subjects such as math (Fajardo et al., 2016).
Perez (2017) looked at 21 Latino male college students at a Southwestern college and
examined their academic determination and community cultural wealth. He found that many
students had unclear educational goals attached with various fears of failure. His study also
found that participants in the study were able to succeed academically if they were able to push
beyond their fears of failure (Perez, 2017). Furthermore, the study found that students were able
to balance their social, personal, and academic commitments when they were part of a peer
network that focused on cultural wealth and that along with the peer networks, personal
characteristics that included self-motivation and self-determination were necessary for the
participants (Perez, 2017).
Furthermore, successful interventions that focus on college persistence of Latino males
require constant interaction with their peers, efficient organizations within the college, and
relatable faculty (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007). Hernandez and Lopez (2005) agreed that some of
the major factors that affect Latino student’s persistence and retention are the capacity of their
involvement, including student interaction with faculty, individual mentor or mentorship
programs, and participating in group organizations. Additionally, Latino male students are more
likely to perceive themselves to be more self-efficacious and to believe that they are more likely
to succeed in furthering their educational, career, and personal goals if students have frequent
contact with their mentors (Santos & Reigadas, 2002). In addition, Santos and Reigadas (2002)
agreed that being placed with the same-ethnic mentors could be advantageous to improve
persistence of Latino males in a mentorship program.
41
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Family support. Similarly, it is crucial for Latino males to feel supported by their
family and friends when attending college (Ojeda et al., 2011). Research has found that family is
a major source of support in stressful times for the Latino male college student (Gloria,
Castellanos, Lopez, & Rosales, 2005; Hernandez, 2002). Latino males who not only receive
encouragement and support from their peers but also from family are less likely to make bad
decisions that can lead to not completing their educational goals (Gloria et al., 2005).
Unfortunately, this is not always the case, as many Latino males must cope with additional
responsibilities placed by social and cultural values and expectations (Hernandez, 2000).
Familismo also poses various issues in balancing their home and school lives (Ojeda et al.,
2011). In the next section, familismo is discussed in detail pertaining to the third dimension of
the PSC framework.
Cultural Factors
The third and final dimension of the PSC framework identifies cultural variables that
affect Latino male student’s persistence. Some of the variables include congruity, social identity,
and acculturation (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007; Gloria & Rodriguez, 2000). Under the cultural
dimension, it is important to examine familismo as a cultural variable for the Latino male student
population (Gloria & Rodriguez, 2000; Sáenz & Ponjuán, 2011). In the next section, the cultural
variables that influence the persistence of Latino male students will be examined and discussed,
beginning with familismo.
Familismo. The family of the Latino male plays a large role in his development and
growth and therefore needs to be examined further (Hernandez & Lopez, 2004; Ojeda et al.,
2011; Sáenz & Ponjuán, 2009). Familismo is comprised of three major cultural values, which
include loyalty, commitment, and dedication (Marin & Marin, 1991). The loyalty of the Latino
42
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
male includes taking care of his family and nurturing the sense of togetherness; otherwise, the
Latino male will feel as if he is not fulfilling his role as a man (Figueroa, Perez & Vega 2016).
In their study, Ojeda and colleagues (2011) examined the perceived barriers to graduating
college through surveys and open-ended questions with 186 Latino males attending a southwest
college. Latino males suggested that they are often pressured to go to college near home so they
can continue to work and help maintain the household (Ojeda et al., 2011). In turn, this creates
several additional barriers for the Latino male students, which affects their overall persistence.
On the contrary, various Latino male students had the resilience and passion to continue
despite the cultural demands. In their study, Ojeda and colleagues (2011) found that Latino
males had pushed family away to achieve their higher education goals. Although familismo
often serves as a stressor, Latino males are frequently motivated to succeed in college when
given the opportunity to succeed in college with the goal in mind of being capable to support
their family upon graduation (Ojeda et al., 2011). Ojeda and colleagues (2011) agreed that
familismo can be a positive influence on the Latino males’ persistence, but there must be an
indirect connection between the importance of family for the Latino male and the encouragement
from the family. This concept of the positive influence of familismo on Latino males can be a
form of cultural wealth within their academic careers (Yosso, 2005).
Furthermore, scholars have found that an emphasis should be placed on familismo when
examining the low math achievement phenomena of Latino students (Castellanos & Gloria,
2007). Fajardo et al. (2016) indicated that there was a relationship between Latino male
students’ math test scores and familismo when students focused more on the needs of family and
friends. Latino students must worry about succeeding academically, but they are also burdened
43
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
with dealing with parental demands and restrictions (Fajardo et al., 2016). In the next section, I
discuss how Latino males apply gender roles and gender expectations.
Gender identity. Latino males and Latinas apply gender roles and gender expectations
in different ways. For instance, Latinas are more likely to resist traditional gender roles and
instead adopt the attitude of proving the rest of the culture wrong by going beyond the
expectations and achieving their educational aspirations (Figueroa et al., 2016). Latino males, on
the other hand, are more likely to engage in traditional gender roles and reinforce the stereotype
of breaking the rules and challenging authority (Figueroa et al., 2016). Lopez (2003) agreed that
males are often deterred from succeeding in higher education due to being often criminalized in
educational settings such as institutions of higher education. The study further reported that
Latinas’ educational trajectories are likely to be portrayed as being more hopeful, less
threatening and are less likely to be affiliated with gangs and violence compared with Latino
males (Lopez, 2003). Furthermore, gender roles are applied at a very young age. Since Latina
female children are more likely to stay in the home learning domestic activities, Latino male
children are often playing outside in the more likely not so safe neighborhood where they learn
about Latino masculinity through observation and interaction (Figueroa et al., 2016).
Latino masculinity. Latino masculinity is developed at a very young age due to the
cultural norms and expectations. Figueroa et al. (2016) researched the impact of Latino
masculinity in educational achievement for Latino males. They found that Latino males may
feel they must behave in such a way that meets the traditional gender role stereotype, so they cut
class, get into trouble, and often get suspended, which can lead to poor educational achievement
(Figueroa et al., 2016). Unfortunately, the low educational expectations placed on Latino males
make it increasingly difficult to make school a priority. In a Latino male student interview, they
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found that being the leader of a gang meant more to them than being successful in school
(Figueroa et al., 2016). In fact, one student emphasized how getting D’s and F’s made a Latino
male more popular and respected as opposed to being bullied for getting higher grades (Figueroa
et al., 2016). Furthermore, the study also found that another priority that falls under the Latino
masculinity threshold is being the provider for the family (Figueroa et al., 2016). Latino males
take this leadership role and apply in all aspects of their life including in college. Some Latino
males in this study emphasized how they were embarrassed to ask for help because they did not
want to seem like they were “stupid” or even worse “gay” (Figueroa et al., 2016). Under Latino
masculinity, being identified as “gay” is the same thing as not being competent (Figueroa et al.,
2016).
Despite the negative effects of Latino masculinity at a young age, Latino masculinity may
serve as a motivator when the student enters college. Before a Latino male can strive to achieve
a higher education degree, he must release the low expectations placed by traditional gender
roles and realize that he can make a difference in the community (Figueroa et al., 2016). Thus,
when a Latino male begins to struggle to find a sense of individualism and self-worth in the
process, he often blames external factors. At this point, accountability becomes extremely
important (Figueroa et al., 2016). Therefore, while examining gender roles, examining
familismo and gender roles including Latino masculinity becomes overwhelmingly significant.
In the next section, I discuss promising interventions that have helped Latino males persist in
higher education and the qualities of promising interventions.
Promising Interventions
According to Sáenz and colleagues (2016), there are various characteristics related to
developing a promising intervention that focuses on Latino male persistence, including
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developing first-year programs that keep men in mind; offering high-stakes engagement during
the first interactions with the institution by providing male-oriented spaces, offering bridge
programs and special sessions for Latino males; recruiting and retaining positive role models that
Latino males can relate to; and offering step-by-step academic advising and career planning
centered towards Latino males.
Santos and Reigadas (2002) examined survey results of 32 Latino students who
participated in the California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) Faculty Mentorship
Program (FMP) to determine the effectiveness of the program. The purpose of the FMP at
CSUDH is to facilitate the personal and social adaption of Latino students to college by having a
faculty-student interaction mentorship. The sample included 75% female and 25% male students
between the ages of 18-36. The results indicated that Latino/a students experienced an increase
in college self-efficacy and had more specific academic goals after joining FMP, especially if
there was greater frequency of contact between students and mentors (Santos & Reigadas, 2002).
In addition, students who had the same-ethnic mentors report greater satisfaction, they perceived
themselves as being more self-efficacious academically, and found their mentors more helpful in
furthering career and personal development (Santos & Reigadas, 2002).
Another successful model is the Mi Casa es su Casa program at Texas A&M University
that provides support to first-year Latino students and transfers (Sáenz et al., 2016). Similarly,
La Comunidad: A Place to Call Home focuses on establishing communities for different
disciplines, such as establishing a science community (Lu, 2015). This program seems
promising due to the emphasis on developing an identity within the group. This program focuses
on the essential components of being successful in math found in the Latina/os in Math section
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of this literature review that included having a math person identity and a social group with
similar values.
Perez (2014) additionally recommended publicly acknowledging Latino males for
academic and social accolades as part of a promising intervention. The researcher
recommended including ceremonies to celebrate student achievement as such events have the
potential to inspire Latino males to continue to strive for excellence (Perez, 2014). Most of the
promising interventions in this section focus on serving the needs of Latino male students
through the PSC lens, which includes developing self-efficacy, developing a successful student
identity, building support groups to include mentors and peer groups, and recognizing student
achievement.
Literature Review Conclusion
The literature review was organized into five sections to examine the background of
developmental education, the achievement gap of the Latino male, Latina/os in STEM, literature
through a PSC framework, and finally promising interventions than have proven beneficial for
Latino males. First, the literature underlined the numerous challenges both institutions and
students face due to having to satisfy the developmental education requirements, including high
costs, low persistence and completion rates, longer time investment, and various other factors.
Second, the literature also reinforced the Latino male students’ performance gap due to various
personal and environmental factors, such as social economic status, role models, personal
affiliations, high school GPA, and many more. Third, the literature highlighted a large number
of Latina/os who are interested and enroll in a degree in STEM, and Latino males especially are
more likely to select a degree in STEM when enrolling in college. Latina/os are more likely to
drop out from these programs due to the challenges they face with trying to persist through
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developmental education. Fourth, the PSC framework was used as a lens to analyze the
psychological, social, and cultural factors that affect Latina/os persistence. This section found an
emphasis on the psychological and social dimensions, specifically in persisting in math, whereas
the cultural dimension focused more on the effects of familismo and gender identity on the
overall persistence of the Latino male. Finally, the fifth section focused on providing promising
interventions that have been proven to help Latino males persist by offering support systems that
can influence self-efficacy and help develop their identity as a successful college student.
In sum, the literature provides information that indicates a need to focus on the
psychological, social, and cultural factors that affect Latino male students who are interested in
pursuing a degree in a STEM-related field but initially assess in developmental education,
specifically in developmental math, the gatekeeper subject during their placement exam. Taking
the above into consideration, the data collection and data analysis methods for this narrative
study are discussed in the following chapter.

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Chapter Three: Methodology
This narrative study aimed to understand the experiences and perceptions of Latino male
college students who placed in developmental math and were interested in pursuing a STEM-
related degree at LANC.
The research questions for this study were the following:
1. What are the concerns of Latino male students who begin the pursuit of a STEM-related
degree while initially placing in a developmental math course?
2. What are the perceived psychological, social, and cultural factors that impact Latino
male students’ persistence?
3. What are the Latino male students’ perceptions of the support programs, placement
process, and the role of counselors, faculty, and administration in facilitating support?
This study revolved around in-depth narratives of six Latino male students who were
pursuing a degree in a STEM-related field and who initially assed in a developmental math
course, at least one level below a college-level math course at LANC. This study analyzed
Latino male students’ narratives by using Castellanos and Gloria’s (2007) psychosociocultural
(PSC) framework as a lens to understand the psychological, social, and cultural factors that
impact their college persistence, completion, and success in mathematics. This chapter outlines
the research design for this study consisting of methods used, site selection, participants, data
collection, and data analysis process. This chapter also discusses the study limitations.
Research Design
This study utilized interviews, a questionnaire, an autobiography, and an observation as
the qualitative method of six Latino male students who were interested in pursuing a STEM-
related degree but initially assess in developmental education at LANC. The purpose of using all
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four methods of research was to explore and develop the narratives of Latino male students
through the PSC lens and determine the impact of developmental education on their college
career while in pursuit of achieving a STEM-related degree.
Why Qualitative Methods?
The study gathered data through qualitative methods to research what experiences Latino
male students have through various interviews in their natural setting. Collecting data by talking
to people and seeing them behave in their natural setting is the major characteristic of qualitative
data (Creswell, 2014). An advantage of using qualitative methods is that the researcher is the
key instrument and thus, they collect data themselves, observe behavior, and interview
participants (Creswell, 2014).
The study was structured in a narrative analysis design to use the stories of Latino male
students as data. The purpose of this type of design is to tell the story of this population with
first-person accounts of their experiences that include a beginning, middle, and ending (Merriam
& Tisdell, 2016). In addition, in the last few decades, the use of narrative analysis has been
growing in popularity due to the ability to access the experiences of the population in depth
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
It was important to give a voice to the Latino male students who were struggling to leave
their footprints on the LANC campus due to their various struggles. It was primal to analyze the
stories of this population to uncover the psychological, social, and cultural factors as well as how
developmental math placement affects them in their pursuit of a STEM-related degree. In turn,
the results of this narrative analysis will better serve this population in ways of developing
interventions that can benefit them. Furthermore, for narrative inquiry, it is common to use
methodological approaches when analyzing stories, such as biographical, psychological, and
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linguistic approaches (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). For this narrative inquiry, the psychological
approach was used that focuses on the populations’ personal experiences, including their
perceptions and motivations about the particular subject (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The
psychological approach additionally focuses on biological and environmental influences of the
population. Since the study used the PSC theoretical framework, it made sense to use the
psychological approach to examine the psychological, social, and cultural factors that influence
the persistence of Latino male students.
In this study, the use of multiple interviews was key to identifying the impact of
developmental math of Latino male students. Interviews are important to explore what students
think or perceive concerning a specific subject since the researcher is unable to observe
perceptions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Interviews are also important to use when there is an
interest in past practices (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). In this study, interviews were conducted to
learn more about the impact of developmental math on Latino male students about their current
and past experiences in education. In narrative analysis, interviews allow the researcher to delve
deep into the stories of the participants, capturing their experiences from the beginning until the
very end (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). As a result, the interviews provided a better understanding
of what types of interventions might benefit this population.
Sample and Population
This narrative analysis used the criterion-based selection process. In criterion-based
selection, the researcher selects the attributes that must be met by the individual to meet the
requirements to be part of the study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Since the narratives must be
examined thoroughly to obtain rich data, which ultimately leads to multiple interviews and
exchanges (Merriam and Tisdell, 2016), the number of participants was carefully selected.
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Creswell (2014) suggests that a narrative study can have a minimum of one participant due to the
depth of each story. Therefore, this study focused intensely on the stories of six participants who
met all the requirements outlined below.
During the participant selection process, the focus relied heavily on recruiting students
who met the five important attributes to be part of the study. First, participants had to be of
Latino descent and male. Second, participants had to be actively enrolled as a LANC student.
Third, participants must have graduated from a high school within the United States. Fourth,
participants must have been enrolled in a developmental course or have been assessed in a
developmental math course at least one level below transfer level during the initial placement
exam. Fifth, participants must have been interested or in the process of pursuing a degree in a
STEM-related field. The selection process also considered the access and availability of each
participant due to the limited timeframe.
To find the participants of the study, I used purposeful sampling that focuses on both
convenience sampling along with snowball sampling. According to Merriam and Tisdell (2016),
although there may be many biases to using convenience sampling, it is an effective method to
reach participants with little resources. They refer to convenience sampling as the gathering of
participants based on availability, money, time, and overall suitability. Merriam and Tisdell
(2016) further describe snowball sampling as one of the most popular forms of purposeful
sampling where the researcher locates participants who meet the requirements and asks each one
to refer someone who may indeed meet the requirements as well. Both forms of sampling were
crucial since to begin the process of recruitment for the study, a mass email was sent to the
STEM faculty with an attached flyer. Other forms of recruitment and communication methods
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were used as well including outreach through Facebook, other faculty, the Director of a new
established STEM program, and university administration.
Participants
This study includes the narratives of six participants who all meet the criteria indicated
below.
1. Of Latino descent and male.
2. Actively enrolled as a student at LANC.
3. Graduated from a high school within the United States.
4. Enrolled in a developmental math course or have assessed in a developmental math
course of at least one level below transfer level during the initial placement exam.
5. Interested or currently pursuing a degree in a STEM-related field.
Chapter Four includes participant demographics and a brief profile for each participant.
Site and Access
LANC is part of the largest community college district in the nation. Within this district,
there are nine sister colleges represented by the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees. All sister
colleges are open-door Hispanic serving institutions (HSI) and public two-year community
colleges. LANC has an open-door-policy and it accepts students of all backgrounds and meets
their needs for skills, knowledge, and upward mobility through its formal and non-formal
programs. LANC serves 18,643 students, of whom 50% of the Fall 2016 enrollment are Latino
(NCES, 2017). Most of the students come from the poorest communities in Los Angeles
County’s San Fernando Valley (SFV). Nearly 53% of LANC service area is Latino, exceeding
the 48% LA County, 38% state, and 17% national averages (LANC, 2017). Some communities
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in SFV have much higher proportion of Latino population: Pacoima 87%, Panorama City 73%,
Sun Valley 71%, and Van Nuys 53% (LANC, 2017).
LANC was chosen as the research site due to accessibility since it was the workplace of
the researcher. To secure approval to the site, a memo was sent to the Dean of Research and
Institutional Effectiveness to let her know of the intent to conduct a study that focused on the
impact of developmental math and the psychological, social, and cultural factors that affect
Latino male students’ persistence who were interested in pursuing a degree in a STEM-related
field. A few days later, the dean requested to see the IRB approval for the study and outline of
the study with the methodology and analysis. The information she requested was submitted and
a week later the study was approved. A week later the data collection process commenced.
Soon after the approval to conduct the study was granted, emails were sent to the STEM
faculty to begin the recruitment process.
Data Collection Methods
This narrative study utilized four instruments for collecting data. First, the students
participated in an initial orientation at which time they learned about the study and were
observed by the researcher. Second, during the orientation, participants completed a
questionnaire designed to provide general information, including demographic data along with
other short personal questions relating to academic persistence and completion. Third, the study
used an interview protocol to gather rich data during each interview. Fourth, participants were
asked to complete a brief autobiography discussing both their personal and academic journey.
Observation
Observations are instrumental to any study as the observer can notice things that have not
been noticed by the participants because the activity has become routine (Merriam & Tisdell,
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2016). Observations are also used to provide knowledge of the context and to figure out how
things work (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). An observation can be conducted before an interview to
learn more about the person’s environment. In this study, observation was chosen for exposure
to the exchanges among students as well as to build comfort and rapport among the participants
and the researcher. To incorporate observations into this study, a one-time orientation was
designed and conducted for all six participants to learn the purpose of the study and data
collection methods. During the orientation, students agreed to be part of the study by signing the
consent form and completed the questionnaire.
Questionnaire
The purpose of the researcher-generated questionnaire was to attain additional
information of the participant (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The questionnaire focused on
attaining demographic information, such as gender, age, race, ethnicity, parent information, etc.,
along with other short personal questions relating to persistence and completion. The same
questionnaire was used for all six participants and was distributed to each participant at the
beginning of the orientation. This type of qualitative instrument allowed the participants to use
their own language and avoided misinterpretation of data by the researcher (Creswell, 2014).
Additionally, this type of data collection represented written evidence directly received from the
participant which was time convenient during the data collection and data analysis process
(Creswell, 2014).
Interview Protocols
The interview protocol was developed to be concrete and simple to not overwhelm the
participants. The protocol included a brief introduction of the researcher and the purpose of the
research study. The protocol additionally included statements to provide assurance to the
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participant of the voluntary nature of participation in the study and the right to pass on any
question or end the interview at any time without consequence. The participants were further
informed of the importance of recording the audio of the interview and were asked if they agreed
to be recorded. The protocol included 18 questions with a few added probing questions
depending on the answers of the participants.
Additionally, all the interview questions that were asked during the interview process and
the questionnaire were developed to link directly to the three research questions. The research
questions were not deliberately asked during the interview. The interview protocol was designed
to ask informational questions first to establish comfort between the researcher and the
participant and to help the participant feel comfortable answering questions before we delved
into the psychological, cultural, and social factors section of the interview. For example, the
participants were asked informational questions, such as, “What programs, if any, have you used
at LANC to support you in your developmental math course?”
Following the informational questions, the interview protocol proceeded to questions that
focused on the perception and past experiences of the participant. For example, “Tell me about
your experiences with any mentors, counselors, faculty, or administrators that have influenced
your academic goals.”
Both types of questions allowed the participant to share their experiences as well as the
knowledge they have about developmental education support. In qualitative research, to
understand the problem in the institution, it is important to choose questions that allow the
participant to provide their experience and perceptions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).

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Autobiography
Autobiographies are considered personal documents where a first-person provides a
narrative describing their experiences and beliefs (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). An autobiography
can also be categorized as an observation because it provides a snapshot of what experiences
students have found to be most important (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Since the study focused on
students’ perceptions and stories, it was important to examine what they deemed to be important
and participants were able to do this by submitting an autobiography. Therefore, participants
were asked to complete an autobiography that tells their academic story while including various
factors of their life that have impacted their journey, including psychological, social, and cultural
factors. The participants were given the autobiography protocol during the orientation meeting.
The autobiography was used as a way to compare and cross check participants’ stories to
validate information collected.
Procedures
Once the study was approved by the college president and the Dean of Institutional
Effectiveness, the recruitment process commenced by using various strategies. Since I work at
LANC, I was able to send an email to the STEM faculty requesting them for assistance in
recruiting students for the study. I asked the STEM faculty to please forward the email to all
their students that included a brief description of the study and a flyer that indicated the
requirements needed to be a participant. Compensation in the form of a $25 gift card was
offered as an incentive for participating in the study and contact details if they were interested in
participating. Second, I contacted the Office of Public Resources to get permission to post the
flyer with details on the LANC Facebook webpage. Third, the program director of the new
STEM program on campus was asked to spread the word among her students.
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As a result, various potential participants responded to the study. I then contacted the six
students who qualified and emphasized the purpose of this study. I then scheduled an orientation
meeting in the Learning and Resources Center on campus that met the availability requirements
of all participants. On the day of the orientation, I discussed the purpose of the study, my role in
the study, and the data collection methodology that was used in this study. I then discussed the
data collection methodology by first asking the participants to carefully read and sign the consent
form. Next, I described the questionnaire in detail and its purpose. I then discussed the
interview process and indicated the number of questions that were on the interview protocol. I
provided the autobiography protocol and described it in detail. I described the brief
autobiography as an opportunity to tell their academic story and further emphasize what is
important to them. We then discussed available dates and times for the interviews and scheduled
the first interview. I then indicated that it might be necessary to conduct additional interviews.
Understanding that the students have very busy schedules, the suggested interview dates were
very flexible keeping in mind their school, work, and family schedules. Participants selected the
date and time of the interview and thus, the interviews were scheduled. I then followed up with
an email confirming the date and time soon after the orientation meeting and I sent a reminder
message the day before the interview.
The orientation and interviews were structured to maintain the professional relationship
between the researcher and the participants. In addition, all participants were asked the same
exact questions in the same order. However, some of the participants required additional probes
to allow for more information to be collected throughout the process. The interview was also
recorded on audio so that I was able to focus on asking additional follow-up questions, rather
than taking notes as they talked.
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Data Collection Approach
The orientation was scheduled during a time that worked for all participants that did not
interfere with school or work hours. The location of the orientation was an empty classroom at
LANC to maintain privacy of the conversations. Likewise, the interviews were scheduled at the
participants’ leisure a few weeks in advance to make sure they were available. They were also
given various dates and times that fit their needs as students. All interviews were conducted
during the evenings since it was most convenient for them and for me as well since it would not
interfere with my normal work schedule. Due to their busy schedules, the interviews with the
participants were held in a small meeting room in the Learning Resource Center. Additionally,
the interviews were between 90 to 120 minutes, but I scheduled two hours for each interview
ahead of time. I also informed the participants that time was of the essence and if they needed to
cut the interview short or schedule a follow-up interview, they had the option to do so. Most of
the interviews lasted approximately 90 minutes, and there was follow-up phone call for most of
the participants that lasted less than 30 minutes. My dress attire was business casual and my
only tools included a recorder, my interview protocol, a pen, and notebook. I wanted to avoid
distracting the student with my laptop. After the first interview, participants were asked to
complete their autobiography within two weeks. A follow-up phone call was scheduled in
advance with the possibility of being cancelled if there were no additional questions. During the
follow-up phone call, students were reminded to submit their autobiography by the due date and
were asked clarification questions. Students were also reminded that the $25 gift card would be
distributed to them once they submitted the autobiography.

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Data Analysis
The data analysis process began as soon as the orientation was conducted and continued
through each interview to identify any additional probes that may be used during the following
interviews. Trends were also identified during the first interviews to prepare for the rest of the
analysis. This section outlines the data analysis process, the credibility and trustworthiness of
the study, ethics, researcher bias, and limitations of the study.
Interview and Observation Analysis
According to Creswell (2014), it is imperative to be sensitive of the natural setting of the
participants and to examine data thoroughly soon after the interview to develop common themes
and trends. Therefore, during the interviews, I noted various words that seemed to stand out
during each interview that eventually led to common themes. Since I recorded each interview as
to not distract the participant with typing, I was able to write notes under each question at times
so that I can check the data once it was transcribed and code it soon after. To avoid error and
save time, I hired a transcribing company that transcribed all the data verbatim. I additionally
conducted member checks during the follow-up phone call to verify the accuracy of the data
collected (Creswell, 2007).
During the initial interview, I also noticed if I needed to incorporate additional questions
at the beginning of the interview to build rapport with the participant. I wrote notes on the
margins that include reflections, ideas, and any relevant themes. This process prepared me to
decide if I needed to modify the style and order of the questions. During this process, I was able
to determine what probes were useful and which were redundant. After the second interview, I
began comparing the data to the previous interview and highlighted any commonalities among
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the two using descriptive coding. More importantly, I paid careful attention to whether any
participants offered answers to the research questions.
Similarly, I used the same process for the observation analysis. The analysis began as
soon as the observation began. I wrote notes in the margins, gathered any common themes, and
made a memo to myself of things to look for or refer to during the following interviews. When I
received the transcriptions, I compared the data with my notes captured during the interview and
looked for anything that seemed to be important or odd. I compared the data to my observation
notes and to the participant autobiographies before commencing the descriptive coding analysis.
According to Merriam and Tisdell (2016), it is important to do some rudimentary analysis
while collecting data as well as between data collection activities, that way the researcher can
find themes and not over saturate the data. Overall, the method I used in an analysis was the
constant comparative method of data analysis, focusing on answers to research questions and
using a descriptive coding system (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Credibility and Trustworthiness
A major focus of analysis was to ensure the data gathering process and analysis were
both credible and trustworthy. After all, professionals need to be able to trust the research;
therefore, a major concern is to produce valid and reliable knowledge (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). The goal of internal validity and credibility focuses on assuring the findings are
congruent with actual reality (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Therefore, triangulation was used to
analyze the findings using multiple sources of data to including comparing observation data,
questionnaires, interviews, and autobiographies. Additionally, member checks were also
conducted to verify if the information gathered was correct in all interviews to ensure
accurateness and transparency.
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Ethics
Ethics is another important aspect of collecting data and reporting findings as it
contributes to the trustfulness of the study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Although institutions
have placed strict policies and code of ethics to encourage honesty, it is ultimately up to the
researcher to ensure their practice consists of ethical procedures (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). For
the study to be trustworthy and ethical, it was important for the researcher to be transparent with
the participants of the study. This was accomplished by doing various things, such as providing
transcripts to interviewees and asking for their confirmation or revising any language errors.
Additionally, all the interviews were very organized and structured to maintain consistency
within the interviews. Each participant was additionally informed that the interviews were to be
recorded on audio during the initial phone call. Each participant was also reminded during the
initial phone call and during each remaining contact thereafter of his right to make his name
private. Participants were given alias to keep their identity concealed. Furthermore, participants
were also reminded of their right to not answer any questions they did not feel like answering
and of their right to end the interview at any time during each interview, including the follow-up
phone call. Similarly, during the orientation and interviews, the researcher made sure each
participant was aware of her role in the study and the purpose of the study.
Conversely, it is important to discuss the potential researcher bias. In a qualitative study,
the main instrument of the study is the researcher (Creswell, 2007). As this is the case in this
narrative study, all the interviews were conducted by one researcher. The researcher identifies as
a female, of Latino descent, Guatemalan-American, raised in a single parent low-income
household, community college alumni, and a first-generation student. However, being a Latina,
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first-generation, and community college alumni, was beneficial in building rapport with the
participants who were all Latino males, first-generation, and low-income.
Conclusion
Throughout the data collection process, it was important to focus on developing a
manageable time frame to avoid poor quality of data analysis (Creswell, 2014). In order to meet
this objective, the IRB proposal was submitted and approved in August 2017. This was followed
by the request and approval to conduct the study at LANC in September 2017. The recruitment
process began later that month. Since the recruitment of the participants took longer than
expected, the data collection commenced in October 2017. The orientation was held early
October and the interviews were scheduled during the following two weeks. The
autobiographies were collected during the first week of November 2017. The month of
December 2017 focused on conducting follow-up phone calls to the participants if necessary and
doing member checks. The data analysis process continued through January 2018. The data
analysis process was completed the first week of February 2018. As a result, various themes
emerged during the data analysis process that have been presented in Chapter Four of this study.

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Chapter Four: Results
This chapter will discuss the findings from this study on the impact of developmental
mathematics on Latino males who were interested in attaining a STEM degree. The findings
from the study will be presented through the PSC lens (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007) by
examining the psychological, social, and cultural factors that have affected the participants’
persistence throughout their academic journey. The study aimed to gain an in-depth
understanding of the following questions based on Latino males’ narratives:
1. What are the concerns of Latino male students who begin the pursuit of a STEM
related degree while initially placing in a developmental math course?
2. What are the perceived psychological, social, and cultural factors that impact Latino
male students’ success in mathematics?
3. What are the Latino male students’ perceptions of the support programs, placement
process, and the role of counselors, faculty, and administration in facilitating support?
Through one-on-one interviews, autobiographies, and questionnaires, participants shared
their personal experiences and backgrounds that included reflections of various factors that have
supported and/or hindered their academic journeys. Various themes emerged during this study
that included: (1) psychological factors such as motivation and utility value, personal
characteristics, fear, and self-efficacy; (2) social factors such as college resources, mentor,
faculty, and/or peer support, as well as family support, and (3) cultural factors such as Latino
family culture, Latino masculinity and ethnic identity.
This chapter is organized in two sections. The first section discusses the demographics
and background information of the participants. The second section provides a thorough
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presentation of the findings. The following chapter then summarizes the findings of the study
and provides implications for policy, practice, and future research.
Who are the Participants?
This section provides an overview of the participants’ demographics, their academic
background information, and a brief profile for each student. The participants are not organized
in any specific order. As mentioned in Chapter Three, all participants selected an alias of their
choosing that will be included in this study.
Participant Demographics
To acquire background information from each student, students filled out a thorough
questionnaire during a group orientation that included various questions that were organized in
three parts. Table 3 presents the findings of the first section related to academia, such as degree
aspirations, number of years in college, enrollment status, intended major, ethnicity, age, and
their initial placement in mathematics during their assessment exam.
Table 3 demonstrates the participants were very diverse in terms of age, enrollment
status, years in college, and their math placements. All seemed to have similar interests in
degree objectives—four out of the six participants were interested in some type of engineering
and the other two were interested in computer science and technology. Age also varied among
the participants; the youngest participant was 19 and the oldest participant was 30 at the time of
the study. Additionally, some participants had been enrolled in courses for five years, whereas
others have been enrolled for only a year. All participants considered themselves Latino
although their roots were from Mexico, Central America, and even a mixture between the
two. Although most students were full-time in this sample, two participants attended college
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part-time due to other commitments. The final component was that all students were placed in a
developmental math course starting at Math 110 at the time of their registration.
Table 3
Participant Demographics from Questionnaire

Furthermore, the participants were all interested in going beyond an associate’s degree
transferring to a university, and attaining at least a Bachelor of Science Degree. Two
participants had hopes of pursuing a Master of Science degree while one participant was
interested in pursuing a Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in science. Table 4 demonstrates the
degree aspirations of the six participants.
Alias Years in
College
Enrollment Major Math
Placement
Ethnicity Age
Jake 1 Full-time Engineering Math 110 Mexican
American
19
Lalo 1 Part-time Computer
Science and
Technology
Math 110 Mexican
American
30
Gabriel 4 Full-time Mathematics
and
Aerospace
Engineering
Math 125 Central
American
22
Kevin 1 Full-time Electrical
Engineering
Math 120 Central
American
20
Alessandro 2 Full-time Computer
Science and
Technology
Math 110 Central
American
29
Miguel 5 Part-time Mechanical
Engineering
Math 125 Mixed Race
Mexican
American
26
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Table 4
Participant Degree Aspirations and GPA
Degree Aspirations Number of Participants
Associate’s Degree 2
Transfer 6
Bachelor of Science Degree 6
Master’s Degree 2
Ph.D. 1

Participants also self-reported their cumulative grade point average (GPA) on the
questionnaire. Five out of the six participants reported having a GPA of higher than 2.5, with
one participant falling below 2.5 GPA. Two of the participants were considered to be on the
honor roll by attaining a cumulative GPA higher than a 3.5. Table 5 below illustrates the
participants’ cumulative GPA.
Table 5
Participant Cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA)
Grade Point Average (GPA) Number of Participants
2.0–2.4 1
2.5–2.9 1
3.0–3.4 2
3.5–4.0 2

Moreover, in the second section of the questionnaire, participants were also asked about
generational status, their parents’ highest education, and the number of siblings. The data is
presented in Table 6. All six participants were born in the United States and are first-generation
college students. None of the participants’ parents attained more than a high school
education. Their mothers’ highest education was evenly distributed among the six participants
with two who completed elementary, two who completed middle school, and two who completed
high school. By way of comparison, the fathers’ highest level of education was high school for
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five of the six participants. Although most of the participants had at least one sibling, two of the
participants did not have any siblings.
Table 6
Student Demographics (Generational Statuses, Parental Education, and Siblings)
Variable Number of
Participants
Percentage
First-Generation College Student
Yes

6

100%
Mother’s Highest Education
Elementary School
Middle School
High School

2
2
2

33%
33%
33%
Father’s Highest Education
Elementary School
Middle School
High School

1

5

17%

83%
Number of Siblings
0
1
2
3

2
2
1
1

33%
33%
17%
17%

All participants attended a public high school in Los Angeles County. Three participants
attended predominantly Latino high schools, whereas two participants attended racially-mixed
high schools, and one participant attended an all-male, racially-mixed high school.
Overall, this sample of participants was well-balanced to represent the new students who
have only been enrolled in college for one year and the older students who have been enrolled in
college part-time. The sample also included a student who returned to college after already
receiving their first bachelor’s degree.
Participant Profiles
This section includes a brief profile of each participant to provide a synopsis of each
participant’s background and personal experiences. The participant profiles were in part
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developed through the questionnaire, interviews, and autobiography. The participant profiles are
not organized in any particular order.
Kevin
Kevin started his academic journey at Los Angeles North College (LANC) in 2016 as
soon as he graduated from an all-male, racially-mixed public high school in Granada
Hills. Kevin has one sister and he is the first in his family to attend college. He identifies as
Central American because both of his parents were born in Honduras. His father attained a high
school diploma and his mother completed middle school. His father passed away three years ago
and since then, his mother has had to raise Kevin on her own. For decades, his mother has
worked as a maid to sustain the family.
Kevin aspires to transfer to a University of California (UC) or a private university in
California because he is concerned about leaving home. He hopes to attain a bachelor’s degree
in electrical engineering. He is also very motivated to pursue a Ph.D. in physics after attaining
his bachelor’s degree. He hopes to become a professor one day at a large university. Kevin
currently has a 3.71 GPA and expects to complete his degree by 2020. Kevin was placed in
Math 125 during his assessment exam, which is one of the highest remedial math courses
available at LANC.
Kevin is able to finance his education with the support of federal and state financial aid to
cover his tuition costs with the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) program at
LANC that provides book vouchers to students that meet the low-income requirement, and by
working two part-time jobs on campus as a math tutor and peer mentor. Kevin is also very
involved in campus activities, clubs, and organizations. More recently, he is avidly involved in
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the Computer Science Club and he is a member of the LANC student government where he
holds an executive office as the treasurer.
Jake
Jake is a freshman at LANC and hopes to transfer to a California State University
(CSU). Jake is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering. Jake is primarily
interested in aviation and joining the Air Force or the Army to begin his training to become a
pilot. He initially wanted to join the Air Force after graduating high school, but the decision was
contested by his parents. Jake currently has a GPA of 3.5 and hopes to graduate in 2020. During
his assessment exam, Jake was placed in Math 110, which is the first course in the remedial
mathematics sequence that requires four courses of math remediation.
Jake attended a public, predominantly Latino high school in the city of Panorama. As the
oldest sibling of five, he is the first person in his family to attend college. His mother was born
in El Salvador and his father was born in Mexico. Since Jake is a descendent of both Central
American and Mexican American cultures, he identifies as being Latino instead of selecting from
the two ethnic identities. His mother attained an elementary education and is currently a stay-at-
home mom. His father attained a high school diploma and currently works in construction.
Jake finances his education primarily with federal and state financial aid and the EOPS
program provides additional support by providing book vouchers. He is currently not working as
he decided to instead be a full-time student and get a part-time job once he gets comfortable in
the academic setting. Since this is his first year, Jake is not currently participating in any on-
campus clubs or organizations but hopes to do so in the future.

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Alessandro
Alessandro started his academic journey with LANC in 2015 with a desire to transfer to a
CSU. His primary interest is to attain a bachelor’s degree in computer science and
technology. He has a GPA of 3.8 and anticipates graduating in 2022. Alessandro attended a
public, racially-mixed high school in Los Angeles County. As an only child, Alessandro is a
first-generation college student. He placed in Math 110 during his assessment exam, which is
the first course in the mathematics remedial sequence. Alessandro is also considered a non-
traditional student because he did not begin college soon after high school. Instead, he returned
to college 10 years after graduating high school. Alessandro started working with his father at
the young age of 12 in his catering business where he worked long hours in the entertainment
industry. From this initial experience, his desires to become a restaurant manager
intensified. After working within several industries including sales, retail, restaurants, and
hospitality, and experiencing the uncertainty of the job market, he decided he wanted to pursue
higher education to improve his career prospects.
Alessandro was born in Northridge, California. His parents both migrated from El
Salvador before he was born. His father attended a few years of high school and his mother
completed middle school. His father owns a catering business and his mother is a
homemaker. He finances his education with federal and state financial aid, his part-time jobs,
and his girlfriend provides financial support when needed. Alessandro is currently working three
part-time jobs at LANC. Alessandro is a math tutor, peer mentor, and he also works for the
STEM office. He is not part of any on-campus clubs or organizations because his time revolves
around working and attending class. He eventually wants to attain a financially stable job
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working with computers and technology. He also hopes to work for a company that will offer to
sponsor him in acquiring a master’s degree.
Gabriel
Gabriel is currently in the process of applying for transfer admission in a CSU or at
UC. Gabriel started his academic journey at LANC upon graduating high school in 2014. He
began LANC with the intention of becoming a police officer. He took various courses in
Administration of Justice and obtained a position as a police cadet on campus. In this role, he
was able to observe the campus police first hand and gain valuable experience. His perspective
and goals soon changed, however, when he met his girlfriend’s parents who encouraged him and
motivated him to believe in himself and pursue his initial goals. In 2016, he changed his career
goals from becoming a police officer to becoming an aerospace engineer. His goals now are to
complete his associate’s degree in mathematics, gain acceptance into a CSU or UC and pursue a
bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering. He is also interested in pursuing a double major in
physics, as he believes it will provide more career opportunities. Gabriel has a cumulative GPA
of 2.8. He initially placed in Math 125 during his placement exam.
Gabriel is a first-generation college student born in Los Angeles, California and has one
older brother who did not go to college. Gabriel graduated from a public, racially-mixed high
school in Van Nuys, California. Since both of his parents were born in El Salvador, Gabriel
considers himself Central American. His father graduated from high school and is currently not
employed. His mother also graduated high school and currently sustains the family working as a
hotel maid.
Gabriel is considered low income and he finances his education with federal and state
financial aid for tuition, EOPS for books, and works part-time as a peer mentor and math
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tutor. He is not currently part of any on-campus clubs or organizations, as he has limited time
and plans to transfer during the following year. After completing his bachelor’s degree, Gabriel
would like to pursue a master’s degree in physics.
Miguel
Miguel began his academic journey at LANC in 2013. Currently, he is working on a
transfer to CSU to earn a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. Miguel is a first-
generation college student as well as a non-traditional student. He is considered a non-traditional
student because he previously completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology from CSU. Miguel
realized that psychology was not his passion during his last year at the university. Since he was
so close to completing the degree, he decided to finish the degree as he had already invested a
significant amount of time and effort. As he began working in the field, he was certain that this
career choice was not what he had envisioned. He made the decision to return to college to
pursue his dream career in engineering.
Miguel has a 3.32 GPA and anticipates graduating in 2019. He placed in Math 125
during his assessment exam at LANC. Miguel was born in Los Angeles and attended a
predominantly Latino public high school in Sun Valley, California. His mother was born is El
Salvador and completed an elementary education. His mother is a housekeeper. His father was
born in Mexico, also completed an elementary education, and is an upholsterer. Miguel
identifies himself as Latino because he has a mixture of Mexican and Central America cultural
identities.
Since this is Miguel’s second bachelor’s degree, he no longer qualifies for financial aid,
thus he must work to pay for his tuition. Once he transfers, he plans to apply for scholarships
and student loans. Miguel is currently employed at LANC as a peer mentor. He additionally
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works as a consultant for a software company. Due to limited time, Miguel is not part of on-
campus clubs or organizations. Miguel was recently granted admission to CSU Long Beach in
the electrical engineering program for the spring semester of 2018. Upon completing his
bachelor’s degree, he desires to pursue a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.
Lalo
Lalo is the first in his family to attempt a college education. He has a younger sister who
he hopes to inspire by attending college. Lalo was born in Los Angeles and graduated from a
predominantly Latino public high school in Paramount, California 14 years ago. Soon after high
school, he tried attending college courses at a local community college but decided that school
was not for him and instead has been employed as a truck driver for the past five years. He and
his wife welcomed a daughter soon after, so he felt it was necessary to work full-time to support
his wife and child. He recently made the decision to return to college after coming close to being
laid-off due to massive cuts with his place of employment.
Lalo began his academic career at LANC in 2016 as a part-time student while
maintaining his full-time job of 50 to 60 hours per week. He plans to acquire an associate’s
degree in computer science and technology and then transfer to CSU to attain a bachelor’s
degree in computer science and technology. Lalo has been able to take all of his classes online
so far, which has been helpful with balancing school, work, and family.
Lalo has a GPA of 2.0 and hopes to complete his degree in 2022. During the assessment
exam, Lalo placed in Math 110. Both of his parents are from Mexico and both parents
completed a couple years of high school in Mexico City. His mother is currently a homemaker
and his father is a carpenter. When Lalo was only 18, his parents moved to Fresno and he
decided to stay in Los Angeles on his own. Without the support of his parents, he began working
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when he was 18 and has been employed ever since while moving higher education further down
his list of priorities of things to fulfill.
Lalo finances his education by working, as he does not meet the income requirements to
receive financial aid. Since he is a parent to a 12-year-old daughter who is currently in middle
school, his first priority is to work so he can sustain his family. He aspires to be a good role
model for his daughter and younger sister by completing his degree in computer science and
attaining a good paying reliable job.
Presentation of Findings
Throughout the process of data collection, psychological, social, and cultural factors were
continuously referenced. The PSC model (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007) was used during the
coding process to extract various themes from the interviews, observations, and
autobiographies. Within the data, various sub-factors emerged. First, under psychological
factors, some of the sub-factors included (a) motivation and utility value, (b) personal
characteristics, (c) fear, and (d) self-efficacy. Second, under the social factors, some of the sub-
factors included (a) college resources, mentor, faculty, and/or peer support and (b) family
support. Third, under cultural factors, some of the sub-factors included (a) Latino family culture,
(b) Latino masculinity, and (c) ethnic identity.
This section will present the findings of the study that will be broken down into the main
factors and sub-factors. This section will provide narratives and excerpts of the student
interviews and autobiographies within each sub-section.
Psychological Factors
Using Gloria and Castellanos’ (2007) PSC model, some of the major themes that emerge
from the psychological factors typically consist of motivation which often times includes utility
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value, self-esteem that includes personal characteristics and attitudes, and self-efficacy that
usually includes academic identity. After coding the data, similar themes emerged within this
dissertation. The first theme that arose was motivation and utility value, which focused on the
participants’ motivation to attain their degree along with their future goals. The second theme
that emerged was personal characteristics, which included participants’ self-confidence and self-
elicited behaviors. The third theme that emerged was fear that included the participants fears and
concerns in meeting their educational goals. Finally, the third theme was self-efficacy, which
included academic preparation, academic confidence, and academic identity.
Motivation and Utility Value
One of the main sub-themes that became apparent throughout the research was the
participants’ motivation and determination to complete their college degree at LANC, transfer to
a university, and attain a four-year degree. Although not always confident of their capabilities,
the participants were all very determined to succeed. Some students were directly motivated by
what someone did or said, whereas other participants were motivated by the missed opportunities
from their siblings. Furthermore, many of the participants in this study were motivated to
succeed and persist through their academic journeys by utility value.
When Kevin was younger, he witnessed his sister not taking high school seriously. She
avoided the SAT exam and did not apply for college. She lived at home until the age of 27 and
had an unsteady job that paid minimum wage. He convinced himself that he would not be in that
same situation, which motivated him to continue with his studies. Growing up, Kevin felt like
college was never an option and his family encouraged him to seek a trade after high school
instead. He now wants to prove to himself and the rest of his family that he is able to accomplish
his academic goals, since he will be the first in his family to do attain a higher education
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degree. Moreover, Kevin’s family financially struggled and that motivates him to want to
change his future. He does not want to be in a position where he will struggle financially, so
putting in the work academically to achieve his goal of obtaining a good paying job is worth the
effort. Another motivator for Kevin is being able to support his mother when he is older but for
now, his main motivator is to create a more promising life for himself.
Like Kevin, Lalo also grew up thinking that college was not option for him. Lalo is now
motivated to complete his degree because he will have more career opportunities. He is juggling
a full schedule that includes dealing with his pre-teen daughter, working almost 60 hours per
week, going to college part-time, and having long daily commutes. He is motivated with the
hopes of securing a job that requires him to invest less hours per week so that he may develop a
more balanced home to work ratio. Furthermore, Lalo wants to set the example for his daughter
and future children. He does not want his daughter to grow up believing the same limiting
beliefs that he was taught as a child. Finally, as the first person in his family to attend college, it
is important to him to exceed the current expectations of his family and begin a new cycle that
includes the pursuit of higher education. His sister and young nieces are now starting college
and he feels a responsibility to make sure he is a good role model for them.
However, Lalo’s major concern is being able to attain a reliable job where he may earn a
steady income so he can provide for his family. A few months ago, Lalo was almost released
from the company he had been working with for over five years. This experience made him
realize the importance of having a college education since the job hunt for people with high
school diplomas is very competitive.
Similarly, as a first-generation college student, Gabriel is motivated to succeed and attain
his degree to set a standard for the “rest of his generation to follow”, as he stated. He also
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believes that his degree is the only way out of poverty. Being financially stable is very important
to him because his parents struggled economically and he dealt with the repercussions. Gabriel
is also motivated to succeed to make his grandmother, parents, and brother proud of him since he
will be the first in his family to achieve this goal. He is primarily motivated by the hard work,
effort, and support from his grandmother. During high school, Gabriel’s father developed an
addiction with drugs and alcohol that eventually led to Gabriel and his brother being removed
from the home to live with their grandmother. He recalls his grandmother leaving to her job as a
hotel maid, a job that she had been employed for over 25 years, at 5 am and returning home each
night at 6 pm. Amid the chaos, Gabriel always knew that he had to accomplish this goal to repay
all of his grandmother’s hard work and effort.
Since no one in Gabriel’s family had attended college and had found a way to make a
decent living, he did not see the worth of going to college for an additional four years. He
believed the concept of going to college was “excessive and torturous” and did not want to make
that commitment. Like many of the participants, Gabriel continues to question himself:
To be honest, I still have my moments where I’m just like, you know, is it worth it? I
have my moments where I’m just very stressed out, and sometimes I just want to throw in
the towel, but when I have those moments I always ask myself, ‘what is the reason for me
starting this path?’ I then remember all the reasons including financial stability and that
always motivates me to keep pushing to complete.
Gabriel was able to make the connection of the worth of an education when he began
hearing stories of triumph from his ex-girlfriend’s parents. This experience ultimately led him to
realize that he had the potential to achieve all of his goals if he put in the effort and found the
experience valuable.
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Jake is motivated to achieve his degree to inspire his siblings to follow in his footsteps.
Jake remembers a difficult childhood challenged by a mother who was not present at times
dealing with various personal issues while he looked over his siblings:
I see my younger siblings as my inspiration because they are the ones I grew up with. It
wouldn’t be my parents as much. My dad left us when I was young, and my mom is an
alcoholic so she has done many things that I hate and that has made our life very difficult
and my siblings feel the same way I do. So, they motivate me to achieve my goals so I
can inspire them to do the same.
Jake is also motivated by the passion for flying that he has had since he was only five-
years-old when he realized what an airplane was. He explained that at his lowest, most stressful
times, he is able to remove himself from his depressive state by envisioning himself flying an
airplane and imagining how it would feel.
Non-traditional college student Miguel is motivated to achieve his academic goals to
make his parents and family proud of him. He is aware of the struggles his parents have been
through and all their hard work and efforts to provide opportunities for their children and he feels
that he owes it to them to be successful. He wants to make sure that his parents feel as if though
all their sacrifices mattered. Since Miguel grew up with two parents who had to work long hours
in jobs they disliked being able to provide for their children, he feels motivated to do the same
while working less hours when he creates his own family. However, he knows that a career in
electrical engineering will provide him stability and a good income where he can support his
family without having to work long hours in a job he dislikes.
First-generation college student Alessandro was initially motivated to return to school by
his girlfriend. He met her eight years ago while she was halfway through her bachelor’s degree
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program. Alessandro began questioning himself on a daily basis about his choices in life, such
as, “what have I done with my life” and “why are you with me, I got nothing for you”, according
to him. His girlfriend is now an art director and has her own studio. She continues to be his
motivation every day. Alessandro also explained that he never thought about going to college
before he met her. His original plan was to follow in the footsteps of his father who owned a
catering company and who, therefore, encouraged Alessandro to one day become a successful
restaurant manager and owner himself. Alessandro recalls growing up with peers who made
difficult decisions in life, such as “tagging up walls” and eventually landing “five years in
jail”. He explained that most of his peers from high school are currently still tagging and getting
into trouble. Remembering this experience motivates him to continue working hard so that he
will eventually be able to inspire his friends to change their lives.
Personal Characteristics
Some of the participants were very confident in their academic ability, whereas others felt
extremely insecure in their academic ability. Kevin described himself as driven, goal oriented,
self-motivated, and optimistic. Although he believes he is generally pessimistic, he knows that
in order to persevere among the chaos he needs to put in the work necessary to accomplish his
goals. Kevin struggles with procrastination and is unable to focus on his work. He is currently
taking additional steps to cope with procrastination, which includes limiting distractions and
staying at LANC until about 10 pm when most students have left campus. Kevin strongly
believes that only he can motivate himself and change the opportunities he receives. Although
he understands that it is possible for the environment to limit a person’s opportunities, he
believes that anything is possible and that everyone has the same opportunities if they try hard
enough.
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On the contrary, Lalo feels very insecure about his ability to succeed in college primarily
due to his past experiences. Throughout his primary and secondary education, Lalo struggled
due not only to the lack of support he received from his parents and teachers, but due to the lack
of understanding the material and to the lack of effort and commitment on his behalf. Early in
his educational journey, he was concerned about other things in life like not being bullied and
fitting in with his peers. Lalo recalled various moments when he was chased by kids that were
much older than he was because they thought he was part of gang. As a result, he did not focus
on school and fell behind in all his coursework. Towards the end of his high school education
Lalo had to retake many of his courses at the local adult school. At that point, Lalo had
convinced himself that school was not for him. Upon graduation with his daughter on the way,
he entered the workforce and avoided furthering his education until now. Lalo now understands
that if he puts in the work necessary he can succeed, but he must be persistent.
Although Jake considers himself extremely positive, he also feels insecure about his
academic capacity. He recalls losing interest in school when he was in the third grade as he was
easily distracted. He remembers being a good student before that until he began asking his
parents for help and realized they could not help him, and as a result, he stopped asking
questions and stopped caring. He remembers his fifth-grade teacher telling him that that he
almost gave him a failing grade due to his academic inabilities but passed him because he was a
good kid. That experience changed him and in middle school and he began taking school a little
more seriously. As he reflected on those difficult times, Jake wished someone would have
guided him and motivated him to do well in his classes. Due to his experiences, he tries to
motivate his siblings and does not allow them to be lazy in middle school. He often times offers
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them support with their homework and encourages them to read books and write essays about the
books they are reading.
Gabriel also did not consider himself a good student growing up and at times, he
questions his ability to succeed. His parents pushed him to complete his assignments but he does
not remember having a desire to succeed. It was not until he began high school that he felt like
he needed to do well in school because he had to follow in the steps of his big brother. That is
when Gabriel began to take his studies more seriously by focusing on mathematics first, which
gave him extra confidence. Gabriel has never felt like he was the smartest person in
class. However, he understands that focus, mindset, effort, work, and passion are necessary to be
academically successful.
Furthermore, Gabriel admitted to lacking self-confidence in his academics at times. For
instance, Gabriel has retaken a few courses up to three times, so he constantly doubted
himself. He struggles with understanding why the material is more difficult for him compared
with his pears who advance through their courses with ease. He often compares himself to his
peers and their lifestyles and asks himself, “Am I less capable than they are?” Yet, he still tries
to do the best he can. Gabriel recalls a video he saw on privilege:
This teacher asks the students, if you've ever had this experience take a step forward, if
you've ever had that experience take a step forward. Which includes positive experiences
like parents being married, both parents in the home, both of your parents worked, if you
never worried about money, etc. And so, all these White kids end up moving to the front
and most of the minorities ended up staying in the back. After the last statement, he says,
‘Alright, now turn around and see all the people that got left behind.’ And that is what
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ended up happening with us and we don't realize that all of those things are considered a
privilege for minorities. How we grew up, affects us.
Miguel has always felt confident in his ability to succeed academically because he felt
like he was not given any other choice. His family always made him believe that he had the
potential to achieve his dreams and become successful. Miguel also describes himself as being
incredibly focused even when there are multiple distractions present. He is able to “set up
blinders”, as he describes it, and focus on what needs to get done, one task at time. This
characteristic has helped him when he begins questioning himself about his career
choices. When he feels discouraged, he looks at all the work he has already done in his
psychology degree and the long yet worthwhile journey he feels he has ahead of him. In spite of
this, he feels like giving up is not an option.
As Alessandro has been able to establish himself academically, he feels very confident in
his ability to succeed. He credits his keen memory for academic success. For instance, he
recalled being 12-years-old and memorizing 30 Bible verses and his peers and teacher from his
Christian Club were in shock that he had this talent. As Alessandro began taking difficult
courses at LANC, he was able to recall formulas from past courses while other students struggled
to keep up with him.
Fear
Most of the participants discussed various fears and concerns regarding what may affect
their academic success. For example, Kevin was part of a very competitive high school program
and received admission into University of California, Santa Barbara; however, he chose to stay
home because he was afraid of leaving his mother. Since her father passed away three years ago
and she is not financially secure, he is currently working to help her. He is afraid that this
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responsibility will limit his decisions when he finally decides to transfer. Moreover, Kevin
struggles at times with motivating himself, which can often serve as a major psychological
stressor in his life. He fears that he will have a semester where he is unable to be able to cope
with the emotional stress and anxiety of balancing school, work, and family, and he will have to
drop out from college.
Similarly, Lalo fears that he will have to quit college due to financial instability. Since he
works full time, he does not qualify for financial aid and, therefore, he pays for his tuition and
books out of pocket. He fears that a life-changing event may occur like losing his job and he will
have to drop his courses.
Gabriel often fears failure. He is afraid that he will work hard and diligently while giving
up many hours of his life in the process and will still feel like he has not accomplished
anything. Since Gabriel is currently undergoing the transfer process, he fears that he will not be
accepted for transfer admission since his GPA is not as competitive as other students applying to
the same universities. Although Gabriel has applied to various CSU campuses, his top choice is
UC San Diego.
Jake also feels that his fears of failing have held him back in the past. He is afraid that he
might not work hard enough and live to regret his choices. He is also scared of getting into a
good university and not being able to afford it since his family cannot support him
financially. Having these fears has caused depression and anxiety at times. He recalls a whole
week where he felt he lost himself. He was unable to find purpose and meaning to the world and
he struggled to find the drive to encourage himself. He was feeling depressed and had a lot of
anxiety caused by the academic challenges, feelings of not belong in the aviation group, and to
make matters worse for him, his mother’s alcoholism had gotten worse alongside an addition to
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drugs. He recalls a terrifying instance where his mother was driving while under the influence of
alcohol and driving with his siblings in the car.
Jake’s mother was recently diagnosed with cancer, which only made matters
worse. Soon after, he remembers his mother attempted suicide and all the pain it caused him to
think of losing his mother. Often times, he feels like he is the parent in the home and feels
exhausted with having to defend and look after his siblings. He admits that all the issues at home
make things even harder for him at LANC. After this experience, he began to seek resources
from LANC. Now he is part of a yoga group that supports him with meditation while finding his
inner strengths and he obtains counseling support from an LANC mental health provider.
On the contrary, Miguel fears being unable to fund his degree at CSU Long Beach since
he will be limited in terms of financial aid and his mom has helped him so much that he does not
want to ask anyone else for help. He is willing to work hard, apply for scholarships, and get
loans if needed. His initial fear was not being accepted into a program since it was his second
degree. Even during the admissions application process, he was very limited in the schools to
which he could apply. Now he is grateful for being accepted and is excited to start his new
journey.
Throughout his academic journey, Alessandro avoided math as much as possible. During
the interview, he admitted his fear of math and the important decision he made to face his fears
when he began LANC. Now as a math tutor, he sees fear of math particularly in many students
he helps:
One thing that drives a lot people nowadays is fear. It's the same thing that you'll learn in
economics or in a class of business, that this world is ruled by fear. It's why people buy,
why people sell in the stock market is because of fear of losing, fear of winning, it's fear.
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The same thing when you hear students. They select psychology as a major because it
has less mathematics. Many students, when they hear the word calculus or differential
equations, they get scared. You don't know how many sessions I've sat through and the
student says, ‘I don't want to take much mathematics.’ It’s like they rather get a whatever
degree that they are not interested in, just because they fear taking math. I understand,
that was me. But, I surpassed my fears and look at me now.
Although Alessandro has drastically changed his outlook in math, like many other
participants he struggles with the stress of being a full-time student. “I got sick this past year due
to stress, but I think that’s due to my own doing trying to be a perfectionist”, he recalled. Even
this experience has not slowed him down and he believes that being a student at LANC has
helped him more than his last 12 years of working in the restaurant and retail industry.
Self-Efficacy
Many participants struggled with feeling like they were academically confident and
prepared to go to college. Most students established their academic identities as early as
elementary school, whereas others are still developing them as adults. Finally, most participants
felt that if they are able to change the way they see academia and their past experiences they will
be able to perceive their previous struggles as strengths.
Many participants did not struggle with being placed in developmental math courses due
to the passion they had towards achieving their degree and overall career outlook. For instance,
Kevin was placed in developmental Math 125 during the assessment exam and this had no
impact on his decision to pursue his engineering degree. He understood the amount of math
courses that he needed to take to complete this degree and had made the commitment to pursue
the degree in spite of being placed in a lower level math course as he expected. After this
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experience, however, he acknowledged his lack of preparation for the exam and his struggles
with mathematics. He expressed that although mathematics had always been easy for him, his
issue was his work ethic and balancing the loads of work that came along with it and his love for
playing video games.
Although Lalo has always struggled with mathematics, his decision to pursue a STEM
degree was not affected by his placement in Math 110 because computer science was his only
interest. He understands that eventually all the hard work will pay off. Since Lalo does not
consider himself to be a ‘math person’, as one would say, he fears the idea of enrolling in a math
course but also knows it will take extra time commitment and dedication to complete this
degree. Lalo also acknowledged that he is currently taking online courses not only because he
needs to balance all his responsibilities, but also because he feels intimidated sitting in a
classroom of diverse students that seem to be more prepared.
Although Gabriel felt very confident before taking the placement exam since he had
previously completed pre-calculus courses in high school, he was devastated when he was placed
in Math 125 because he felt like he was “dumb”, which shattered his confidence the first few
semesters. He now regrets not preparing for the assessment in advance. Being placed in Math
125, however, did not deter Gabriel from enrolling in a STEM degree because he was committed
to following his passion in aerospace engineering. When Gabriel found out the amount of math
courses that were necessary to complete this degree, he felt discouraged, as he had already been
attending college for two years studying administration of justice. Gabriel recalled that in his
high school experience there was a lack of awareness, information, and resources on science and
engineering. He is convinced that his preparation would have been different if he focused on
STEM during high school as opposed to focusing on sports.
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Jake feels that his high school experience is partly responsible for his lack of
preparedness. Jake explained that teachers did not care and would give assignments and show
movies to keep students entertained but did not teach or inspire. He explained that one of his
teachers was fired because he gave all his students A letter grades without having to put in any
work. Jake does not recall having not one good teacher throughout high school. In spite of this,
Jake also feels responsible because he knows he should have tried harder to learn even if it meant
learning on his own, but he preferred to play video games instead. Jake described his addiction
to video games as a way to escape the problems that were happening at home.
Similar to his peers, Jake did not study before taking the assessment exam because he
signed up a few weeks before the commencement of the semester. As a result, he was placed
into Math 110 although he feels like he could have done better if he would have at least taken the
practice exam. He considers math to be a roller coaster of a subject, where his success is up and
down at times. Due to his placement, he felt insecure in his ability to keep up with his
peers. Additionally, Jake is also concerned that this may delay him in completing his
coursework necessary to become a pilot since the age limit to attain the licensure is age 29. Like
the other participants, Jake feels that his placement in Math 110 will be beneficial because he
understands that he needs to take the remedial courses to establish a foundation to be better
prepared for the advanced courses, such as Calculus 3. Overall, Jake is convinced that this
placement will not deter him from attaining his degree because he is passionate and determined.
Miguel has always enjoyed math and was always good in math throughout his
educational journey. He feels that understanding the concepts has come naturally to him and has
never required additional support. He was surprised when he was placed in Math 125 but agreed
with the placement because he had not taken the time to prepare in advance. Being placed in this
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course concerned him because he realized the amount of time it would take him to complete his
degree since he was only going to college part-time, but he never questioned his choice of
returning to college since he was sure of his career choice. As a result, five years later, he is
finally transferring to the CSU system.
Since Alessandro struggled with math growing up, he placed in Math 110 during his
placement exam. He explained he was not concerned about the amount of math classes he had to
complete due to the placement because he felt like he had already “wasted” 15 years on working
“cashier” jobs. Instead, he was concerned about taking Math 110 because he felt that it was too
advanced for him, even though this was the lowest math course available. Growing up, he
avoided math as much as possible including not applying to jobs like Subway, which required an
arithmetic exam to be hired as a cashier. Alessandro takes full responsibility for considering
himself bad in math. He explained how when something got too complicated he often said,
“forget it”. Throughout his last years of high school, he decided to attend every class but not
turn any of the work, and he was surprised when most of his teachers gave him passing
grades. His experience at LANC is completely different because he has been able to work hard
and has realized that he is capable if he remains patient and puts in the necessary time to
complete assignments. As he reflected on his past experiences, he is now impressed that he
tutors other students in Algebra.
Some of the participants took additional steps to make sure they felt self-efficacious. For
instance, Kevin made the decision to use Khan Academy on his own to complete the geometry
series so he was better prepared. Kevin is also motivated and builds his own perspectives based
on people who have been successful. He reads books about business, finance, and personal
development from various authors and successful people, such as Warren Buffett, Mark Badson,
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and Napoleon Hill. He also took a course on study skills to improve the way he prepares for his
assignments and exams. He is currently reading a book on how to transfer to a university that
has deeply inspired him and motivated him.
Gabriel focuses on improving his study habits by following the advice of some of his
faculty members who encouraged students to take short breaks in the middle of studying. He
finds that he does his best when he stays at LANC to do homework as opposed to going home
where he is often times distracted by people.
Although Miguel’s time is limited balancing two jobs and going to school part-time, he
has visited the tutoring center for help with his physics courses, visited professors during office
hours, and often uses the computer lab and study rooms at LANC.
Furthermore, various participants struggled to develop their academic identities
throughout their early years in academia. As many participants reflected on their past
experiences, most had a life-changing experience that developed their academic
identities. Kevin always knew that he had the potential to be a top student; however, in his early
years of schooling due to the lack of motivation and support from external sources, he
categorized himself as being “lazy”. According to Kevin, he established his academic identity
when he joined “one of the most rigorous programs a high school student could take on. It was
the International Baccalaureate program during the 10
th
grade”. Nevertheless, he did not
establish his academic identity right away. He initially felt out of place although he knew he had
the ability to succeed. He eventually put in the work and realized that he was able to keep up
with his classmates, soon after he was considered a top student. Although he had the confidence
in his ability, it was not until this experience that he realized that he was a top student.
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On the other hand, Lalo has always struggled with mathematics since elementary school
and has not been able to establish a positive academic identity. He admits that going to school
was never “his thing”. Lalo’s struggles with mathematics has caused major anxiety in his life so
he has decided to push math as far back on his to-do list for as long as he possibly can and in the
meanwhile take other general education courses. Like his peers in this study, Lalo admitted to
not preparing enough to take the placement exam, especially since he has not done math in over
10 years, and he too feels that he should have studied for the exam in advance.
Gabriel was convinced that he was not college material for two reasons: first, his family
did not expect him to go to college, and second, he felt as if college was only for smart people
and he did not feel like a smart person. Gabriel used the words, “seeing is believing” when he
described how he was unable to imagine himself as a college student because he did not know
anyone who was in college or who had previously attended.
Jake considers himself as an average student who has had many struggles and avoided
courses like physics and chemistry in high school due to the fear of failure. He now believes that
his identity does not depend on a grade or past experiences. Instead, Jake explains academic
success as striving to learn as much as possible. He explained:
I think if you consider yourself an A student, that means you know everything and can
pass everything. I think it’s not always going to be about being an A student, you’re
always going to want to learn more, more, and more. So, I don’t think A, B, or C counts,
you’re just striving to learn more.
Alessandro decided school was not for him when he was in elementary school. He
recalls a day in elementary where they split the students into two groups. He does not know how
they made the decision, but he understands that they selected the smarter students and placed
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them with a better teacher who challenged them, while the “slower” kids were placed with a
“less experienced teacher who did not care about the students”. He describes his fifth-grade
class as learning to read and sell comic books while learning to kick box after class. Since that
experience, Alessandro identified himself with not being good in school and instead he was
determined to work soon after high school.
As a result of not feeling academically confident and prepared, many of the participants
expressed how the outlook of the individual is detrimental in the success of achieving their
goals. Hence, many participants described instances where they had to adopt a positive mindset
to deal with the challenges they faced. For instance, when Jake described his struggles and how
he was not giving up in spite of all the challenges, he focused on seeing the world on a wider
scale:
A lot of people are closed-minded; they are like oh gays are bad, blacks are gangsters,
etc. I understand that, but you also have to be able to look past all that society has to say
and you have to see the world how it truly is. Don't look at somebody as being ugly
because society put that image in your head, why they look ugly, you tell yourself why
they look ugly. They're not an ugly person, they're beautiful they're living just like you,
everything is the same maybe just a different face ... they weren't born with the same
structures, they're a beautiful person. Society put that idea in your head that this is why
they're like this.
Jake expressed the importance of having struggles because they build the character of a
person. Jake insists that having a mind that is open to everything and thinking positively about
the outcomes can lead to great strides in a person’s journey.
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For Miguel, he admits there are times when he feels behind his peers and thus begins to
doubt himself. He struggles with being able to recall information from past courses, such as
formulas, as quickly as his peers do. However, he does not let this deter him from achieving his
goals. He sees himself as a “glass is half full kind of guy” where he looks at the positive things
and keeps his “nose in the books” and continues working hard while continuously keeping his
goal in mind.
Alessandro was another student who felt he needed to change his mindset to adapt to his
new role as a college student. He remembers entering LANC with a new learning strategy. He
explained:
When I first made the decision to go to college, I told myself, ‘I’m going to do it
differently from what I’ve been doing. I’m not going to walk out, I’m not going to walk
away. I’m going to ask a lot of questions and make people frustrated. I’m going to make
people angry at me’. Now I don’t care if they get angry at me for asking questions, it’s
what I do.
Social Factors
According to Gloria and Castellanos (2007), some of the common themes that derive
from social factors usually include mentors, faculty and peer support as well as family
support. The data analysis of this study found similar themes to those described by Gloria and
Castellanos (2007). The first theme that emerged was college resources, mentor, faculty and/or
peer support, which included the influences of the programs at LANC, the faculty, their
classmates. The second theme that emerged among all participants was the need for family
support throughout their educational journeys, which included academic, emotional, and
financial support.
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College Resources, Mentor, Faculty and/or Peer Support
Most participants in this study preferred to work on their own with little distraction,
although there were some who insisted on working collaboratively with their peers. This was
evident during the orientation meeting, as participants did not speak to their peers. Most
participants were focused on filling out the paperwork provided or were on their phone the
majority of the time. Once the orientation started, the focus was on the researcher. When the
orientation was over, all the participants rushed out of the room without connecting with their
peers. For instance, when Kevin worked individually, he was motivated by his peers’ study
behaviors indirectly. When Kevin first showed interest in attending the International
Baccalaureate program, his friends were not supportive of his decision. Often times they assured
him that he would fail out of the rigorous program and eventually return to his regular
courses. Immediately after beginning the program with minimal support from his peers, he felt
as if he was already behind from his new peers. He soon realized that all his peers in the
program knew what their plans were and were progressively working towards their goal:
I was surrounded by students who had private tutors for the SAT, ACT, and AP
courses. This opened my eyes to what I had to do to succeed at a higher level, and first
and foremost I needed to work on my work ethic. All these students worked diligently
with their academics, they took school seriously and never saw any other sort of career
aside from the top positions in their respective fields. Now that I knew what it took to
succeed at a higher level, I implemented traits these students lived by in my daily
life. And eventually, my GPA went up, I felt more educated, I could hold conversations
with my professors about politics and science, and most importantly, I had a plan on what
to do with my future.
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For Kevin, being able to surround himself and learn from people who succeeded was one
of the most important things in his academic journey since he did not have any previous role
models. Surrounding himself around successful people showed him the steps to get to their
level, although no one directly tried to encourage him or mentor him. Now at LANC, Kevin has
made friends with students who were also motivated and driven to succeed. He finds that
although he does not like to study or work on assignments with his peers, he continues to learn
from the habits of others. When he begins to doubt himself, he tells himself, “okay, I can do
this. They’re human, I’m human. I can do the exact same things they’re doing”.
When Alessandro met his girlfriend, he began socializing with a different group of people
than he was used to. He began to meet people who were in the middle of their bachelor’s degree
while he was a cashier at a retail store. He recalls feeling like an outsider at first but was able to
make drastic changes, as he explained:
The validation I used to have with my friends was no longer valid. These people were on
a different level. It really changed my outlook on life. I started getting rid of the toxic
people around me, the taggers and troublemakers, and decided to focus on my future.
Moreover, he recalls developing “family-like” relationships with his soccer peers in high
school. He explained that the group was divided in two, the students who wanted to succeed and
received stellar grades in their courses, and the students that did not care school and struggled
turning in the work. Alessandro considers himself part of the group who did not care in high
school.
Miguel was the only student who finds forming study groups with his peers helpful. He
finds study groups helpful with staying on task, making sure everyone has all the notes so no one
is falling behind, and with setting reminders for upcoming assignments. In addition, having a
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large group of students working together also helps when multiple students are struggling with
one problem, as there may be one person who might know the answer. He also likes the idea of
working with other peers because he can share his knowledge from the last four years at LANC
and hopefully help his peers. Although he thinks highly of study group, he only finds them
helpful when he does not understand something or when he is trying to help others understand
something. Other than circumstances where he needs assistance, he does his best studying on his
own with zero distraction.
Faculty members, mentors, and external resources have been very instrumental in the
success of most of the participants. Gabriel expressed that many of his insecurities in his ability
were due to the lack of Latino male role models who were engineers. Being the first in his
immediate circle and his whole family to pursue a STEM degree, Gabriel was concerned and
feared failure. His perspective of himself changed when he was selected to participate in a
competitive scholarship at JPL in Pasadena, the National Community College Aerospace
Scholars (NCAS) program. He participated and excelled in a five-week online program with
NASA and was then selected to attend a NASA site for a few days. Within those four days, they
worked with mentors, NASA personnel, engineers, and scientists, and developed prototype of
rovers that are used on Mars. Gabriel expressed that this experience completely changed his life
and gave him the confidence that he needed before going through the transfer process.
Similar to Gabriel, Miguel also had the opportunity to participate in the NCAS program
where he took the five-week coursework and was one of the few top-ranking students who were
invited for an onsite experience at one of the NASA sites. Being part of the NCAS program and
seeing what people in the field do helped him begin to believe in himself:
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I want to work at JPL. Something like that would have never crossed my mind before.
Through that program, I felt that it was definitely a possibility. Their education office
team was very welcoming and made sure that we always felt like if we wanted to work
here it's possible. It doesn't matter that you're in community college, which is, I think, a
really good thing to hear because I feel like there's a stigma that if you go to community
college you are not as smart. Hearing that from people at NASA made us feel like, yeah
we could be a part of that, there's no reason why not. If you're passionate about it and
you put in the dedication, there's no reason why you can't work here as well. Definitely
that team and that education office team, they really helped me mold my goals in terms of
where I want to have a career.
Miguel owes this experience to one of his math instructors who sent an email with the
information to apply to the whole class and even volunteered to write a letter of recommendation
for all the students. Since he had already taken a few courses with this instructor, he felt
comfortable enough to ask her for a letter of recommendation. Miguel sees her as a mentor
because she has helped him and encouraged him to apply for any opportunities and resources
available. He believes that it is important for faculty members to provide resources to their
students since they are the ones that are aware of the opportunities. Another one of Miguel’s
physics professors also shared an opportunity to intern in the Physics Research Department at
California Technical University. Miguel is currently completing the application for that
opportunity. Moreover, Miguel finds it incredibly helpful to be able to visit his professors during
office hours because he is able to get clarification for questions he has and to also establish good
relationships with them that make it easier to access more resources and feel comfortable enough
to ask for a letter of recommendation.
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Alessandro expressed the need to have positive, successful role models that can motivate
and provide resources throughout the academic journey. “Faculty is what has made a difference
for me personally.” He described how one of his professors has professional experience in the
industry and has been able to give Alessandro “solid career advice”. This professor encouraged
him to focus not only on the technology but also on being a good leader. Although he does not
have any other mentors at LANC, he mentioned that every math instructor at LANC “has been
phenomenal”. He has been able to understand the concepts and he always receives one-on-one
assistance from them when he asks for help.
However, most of the participants mentioned the lack of resources and faculty support
available to them at LANC. For instance, Gabriel expressed disappointment in the lack of
resources, clubs, and organizations offered to math and engineering students. When he first
started at LANC, he often used the student lounge area that has billiards and a study area
available to LANC students to unwind from his hectic schedule and catch up with peers. He
feels that this resource helped him take necessary breaks from studying, thus studying for longer
periods before going home. Unfortunately, due to lack of funding, the lounge has not been open
consistently, which he feels has hindered his ability to take much needed breaks from his studies.
He also reported that out of eight math faculty members, only two have been supportive of
him. Gabriel felt that the lack of Latino faculty members teaching STEM courses was oftentimes
discouraging. Gabriel recalls only one Latino engineering professor at LANC with whom he
was able to connect because of his similar background and because he felt supported and
understood by the professor.
Similarly, Kevin does not feel like he has found the right faculty mentor at LANC. He
reflected on the important contribution faculty can make if they are experienced in his field of
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interest so they are able provide additional resources and insights that can help him in achieving
his degree.
Jake recently joined a new STEM program that supports first-generation, new STEM
students and provides them with peer mentors and tutors. Since the program only started in
September, it is too soon for Jake to indicate whether he likes the program or not. In his first
semester, however, Jake realized that he could not work with his peers and needs to study on his
own. Further, since he is still becoming accustomed to the college process while balancing with
aviation group and family issues, he has not looked for a faculty mentor.
Conversely, since Lalo is currently working full-time, he often enrolls in online courses
that limits his interaction with peers and faculty. Due to the lack of interactive resources offered
to online students, Lalo has also been unable to find a faculty mentor at LANC. Lalo can only
recall one teacher in middle school that made him feel like he mattered. She was the only
teacher that encouraged her students to pursue college and that any dream was attainable. Lalo
explained the lack of interest and support he received from his teachers. When he was in high
school, he noticed that the focus was solely on helping students to obtain a high school diploma
and pursue a trade or enlist in the military. He does not recall any teacher or administrator
encouraging students to obtain a college degree.
Family Support
Many of the students received some type of family emotional support but little academic
and financial support. For instance, Lalo’s parents did not encourage him to pursue higher
education. His parents were convinced that the only way to succeed in this country was to work
hard at a stable job for a long period of time. He reflected on how his parents never talked to
him about the importance of education or about how life could be different with an
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education. Instead, Lalo was motivated to return to college after 10 years when he met his
girlfriend who had a good job and had already earned a college degree. He considers her his
“go-to” source of encouragement and motivation. As he reflected on his experiences growing
up, he concluded that motivation to go to college begins at home with the parents. He insisted
that if his parents were to have encouraged him more and set him on the right path, his
perspective about the college-going experience would be so different.
Furthermore, since neither of Lalo’s parents spoke nor read the English language, they
were unable to help him complete any of his homework since elementary school. In turn, this
was very frustrating for Lalo who wanted to complete the homework but did not receive the
support necessary at home. Lalo recalls various times when he felt as if he was learning more
from the television set. Lalo’s parents divorced when he was only eight-years-old, so his mother
was forced to raise Lalo and his older sister on her own with minimal resources. His mother is
currently unemployed so he and his sisters provide her with financial support.
Although Kevin’s parents did not directly encourage him to go to college, he admits that
his father had many flaws that included alcohol and gambling addictions, but he learned to
emulate the qualities that served him well, such as working hard from ground zero to the
top. Academically, Kevin explained that both his mother and father pushed him to do his work
throughout his education, but since they were both foreign, they struggled to understand the work
he was doing so they avoided trying to help. In turn, Kevin struggled through most of
elementary, middle school, and some high school years with minimal support from his
parents. Moreover, Kevin did not have financial support from either of his parents. His family
has historically struggled financially and oftentimes his mother must work extra hours to send
money to her own family in Honduras.
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Gabriel’s parents also did not expect him to attend college nor think it was a
possibility. Since his parents did not complete high school and were not familiar with the
resources available to go to college, they never pushed him to go to college, and instead he was
only expected to achieve a high school diploma and get a full-time job. When Gabriel was asked
who his role models were, he first said his brother who had enlisted in the military soon after
high school. As a result, Gabriel was motivated by him and initially wanted to enlist in the Army
and eventually become a police officer. However, Gabriel’s brother continuously encouraged
him saying that he had the capability to go to college and succeed, so he made the decision to
attend college. A turning point for Gabriel was when he met his now ex-girlfriend’s parents who
were both medical doctors in the Philippines. They expected the best for their daughter so they
also expected the best from their daughter’s boyfriend. As Gabriel was exposed to her family, he
became inspired and began to envision himself as a successful engineer. Gabriel’s parents often
heavily monitored his academic progress throughout elementary. Gabriel recalls that although
his parents were not able to help him with his homework, they were always making sure he was
completing all his work.
On the contrary, Jake recalled his family always encouraging him to go to college
although they did not understand the hard work, investment, and dedication that it takes to be
successful in college. Although he receives plenty of encouragement from his mother, he wishes
she understood his struggles more. Jake also receives emotional support from his stepfather who
he considers kind and very helpful. Although Jake feels that his stepfather does not understand
the college process and the struggles students go through, he always pushed him to follow his
dreams, even if it meant going to college. Furthermore, although Jake’s family has always
believed in him, they have not been able to support him academically. Currently, Jake is part of
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the Aviation Explorers group under the Whitman Airport that mentors young pilots like
himself. Being part of this group has been instrumental in his success in his courses. Although
this program has significantly helped him, he often feels out of place because he is the only
Latino within the group. He explained that his peers consist of one Asian student, himself, and
the rest are “White students with blonde hair and blue eyes”. Additionally, Jake notices that
most of his White peers’ parents are highly involved in the program, helping them out,
academically, emotionally, and financially. Although he feels highly discouraged at times, he
uses this as motivation as well.
Miguel, on the other hand, feels lucky to have parents and siblings who have always
supported and encouraged him. His parents frequently dedicated their struggles to their children
and often remarked, “We go through tough times so that you can become a college graduate and
get a good career”. In addition, his older sister played an important role in encouraging him to
go to college, making sure he was doing well in school, helping him apply to colleges, picking
him up from campus, and just making sure he was taken care of. His sister understood the
struggles of his mother and father, and since she was unable to go to college herself, she wanted
to make sure that he graduated. When Miguel received his first degree, everyone was extremely
proud of him because he was the first of his family to graduate from college. Although they may
not understand his decision to go back to college for a second degree, they supported him
emotionally nevertheless.
Moreover, Miguel’s girlfriend of five years has also played a significant role in his
attaining a second degree. When Miguel was asked about significant people who helped him,
the first person he talks about is his girlfriend:
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Definitely, the first person that stands out is my girlfriend. I met my girlfriend over five
years ago now. She's been with me through the whole process. She was there when I
was graduating with psychology and she went through that whole time when I was trying
to figure out what to do when I came back. She's always been there, and she's always
helped me out in any way she can. If there's a test and I'm busy studying or anything,
she'll kind of make sure there's something I can eat. She's helped me focus, make sure
that I stay on task when I begin to feel a little burned out on studying for a class or
whatever, she would remind me and kind of help me just keep my eye on the goal
essentially.
Miguel finds this type of emotional support very important, especially when individuals in his
family question him about going back to school for a second degree.
When Miguel’s parents divorced while he was young, his mother had to work over-time
most days so he was left with his sister most of the time. Since his parents did not know how to
read English, they were unable to help him. Luckily, his sister was instrumental in helping him
throughout elementary and middle school. In high school, he did not seek any support because
he was able to manage on his own without the assistance of his sister. However, he did request
for her sister’s husband who was in college at the time to review some of his essays. During his
first degree, Miguel’s family was able to help him pay part of his tuition along with the support
of financial aid. Since Miguel no longer qualifies for financial aid, he works two jobs to be able
to pay for tuition and books at LANC.
Alessandro’s parents always encouraged him to work hard to complete the goals he set
for himself. Although they never pushed him to go to college, they always made sure he
understood that his only options were to work full-time or go to college. Alessandro had a good
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friend who indirectly inspired him to go to college. At the time, Alessandro was struggling
looking for a job and was not happy with his job at Victoria’s Secret. At that point, his friend
encouraged him to quit due to ethical reasons that were being violated. As Alessandro reflected
on his friend’s life story, he recalled how strong of a person he was, overcoming alcoholism,
going to the military, becoming a prisoner of war, eventually returning to college, and becoming
a college professor. Alessandro then decided that he would try college. Furthermore,
Alessandro’s girlfriend had been encouraging him to pursue a degree since she believed he was
capable. Both of these experiences were the deciding factors that encouraged him to pursue a
degree.
Similar to the other participants, since Alessandro’s parents both migrated from El
Salvador and they did not speak English, they still wanted to support him academically. One
summer he remembers going through a program at home called “Hooked on Phonics”, which he
completed that summer. His parents used that program from grades one through five. His
parents wanted him to be able to adopt the English language fluently because they were
convinced it was the only way to be successful in this country. However, the academic support
from his parents stopped during middle school years because the priority at that time became to
work with his father.
Cultural Factors
Gloria and Castellanos (2007) suggested that some of the themes that emerge while
examining the cultural factors include Latino family culture that includes cultural beliefs
including familismo and the ideology of Latino masculinity, and ethnic identity. The study found
three major themes during the data analysis. The first theme that emerged was the Latino family
culture that includes the theory of familismo. The second theme is Latino masculinity which
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includes the role of Latino males as described by the participants. The third theme was ethnic
identity which focuses on how the participants perceived their ethnic identities.
Latino Culture
The impact of growing up within a Latino culture was a constant theme among all
participants. Similar to most of his peers, as a Latino male who grew up in a low-income
household, Kevin feels the responsibility to take care of parents. In fact, one of his motivators to
complete his degree is to be able to take care of his mother financially when he is older. Kevin
recalls how his mother migrated from Honduras illegally as well as all the struggles that it
entailed, including sleeping in one bed with his sister and mother in a one-bedroom
apartment. Currently, due to her immigration status and the state of the country, one of his
biggest stressors is that she might get deported and he will not be able to help her financially.
Jake is also currently dealing with his mom’s possible deportation case, which does not
allow her to work and means Jake must help his family both financially and emotionally,
creating additional stress for him. Jake feels that due to his culture, he has the obligation to help
his mom while protecting and taking care of his siblings.
Lalo is also deeply motivated by supporting his family. However, Lalo was the only
participant who not only feels the need to help support his mother, but he also has a
responsibility to support his daughter; therefore, working 60 hours per week is his
priority. Lalo’s beliefs stem from his Latino culture:
In my big Mexican-American family, college education wasn’t something they were
familiar with or they encouraged. School was something that was for the White kids,
they made you feel like it was something you were not supposed to do. Like you had to
follow in their footsteps, and do what they are doing. Get a factory job, driving a truck,
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being a mechanic, and starting a family. Then buy a house, pay mortgage, live paycheck
to paycheck, save every cent possible in case of an emergency, and drink on the
weekends with family. That was it, that’s what my parents wanted from me. The
American Dream.
Likewise, Gabriel believes that his cultural identity and values have made a significant
negative impact on his studies. First, as a Latino in STEM, Gabriel realizes that he is a minority
in the field. He explained that in most of his advanced math courses and physics courses, he is
usually one of three Latino students. Often times, he feels out of place as if he cannot relate to
the other students in the class. He described himself as an imposter, which he described as
doubting himself although he was aware of all that he has accomplished. However, knowing that
he is a minority in the field motivates him to demonstrate that Latinos are capable of pursuing a
difficult degree of their choice.
Second, Gabriel’s cultural values and beliefs have limited his perspective on academic
and career success throughout his childhood. Gabriel explained that growing up he believed that
getting his diploma was the only goal he needed to achieve before becoming an adult, finding a
job, and eventually providing for the family. Gabriel explains his mindset on college by:
Seeing that no one else in my family didn’t attempt to go to college, I had the impression
that going to work right after high school was the goal everyone sought after. My family
came here from El Salvador seeking the American Dream and finding a job and settling
down was what that meant to them.
His views on being successful changed when he was exposed to the views of his ex-girlfriend’s
family, who praised education and provided the resources and motivation necessary. Although
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both of her parents were immigrants and studied in a foreign country, they knew the importance
of education and they instilled those beliefs in their daughters’ mindset:
I had a desire of just wanting to be a cop, and just going to school to get my AA and that
was it. But meeting her family and seeing that both of her parents went to medical school
and that they were both doctors, motivated me to become as good as they were. So, I feel
that I credit them for helping me find my identity because no one in my immediate family
has gone to college. It was her family who showed me the ropes of college.
For Miguel, it was hard for him to imagine himself graduating from college because no
one is his family had done so. He is also concerned about the lack of Latinos in STEM and feels
that it was difficult to imagine himself as an engineer because of the under representation of
Latinos in the field. In spite of this, he tries not to dwell on these thoughts and remember the
reasons why is pursuing a career in STEM, which equates to paying back his family for
everything they have done for him and being able to support them when he is older. Most
importantly, he feels like he owes it to his “community, ethnicity, culture, and family, to be
successful in this field”.
As an 11-year-old child in his culture, Alessandro was considered old enough and was
expected to help his father with the family catering business. His father catered breakfast and
lunch for a television studio in Los Angeles. Alessandro helped his father from 2:00 in the
morning until 6:00 am before being dropped off at school. His parents always encouraged him
to work hard and taught him about work ethic. He recalled his father working up to 20-hour
days and cannot remember him being present during his middle school years.

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Latino Masculinity
The concept of what is expected from a Latino man was a common theme among most of
the participants. Kevin reflected on how his parents both expected him to work in some sort of
trade, like a mechanic, to be able to support his future wife and children. His mother in
particular believes that a job as a mechanic is a stable, high paying job that can sustain a family.
As the only male figure in the family, he feels pressured to succeed in order to be able to provide
for his family.
As a Latino male, Lalo has understood that the role of the man is to be the sole provider
of his family. Since he is the sole male of the family, most of the financial responsibility of his
mother who is currently disabled falls on his shoulders. As a man, he also feels the
responsibility to take care of his daughter financially and emotionally even though she is only
living with him 50% of the time.
Miguel feels that as a first-generation Latino male in this country, he was raised believing
that he must achieve higher goals than what his parents did, which included getting a good job,
starting a family, and one day buying a home. He feels that being a Latino male comes with an
innate pressure to be successful. He finds it even more difficult because being first-generation;
the experience is new to him and has no one in his family to lead by example causing additional
stress and anxiety. He explained:
All the other ethnicities that have migrated here already, they’ve been here for a few
generations, they’ve gone through the experience, they’ve assimilated more or
less. We’re still in that process so there is a lot of pressure to represent our culture in
those fields.

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Ethnic Identity
In terms of ethnic identity, most participants found being Latino as an obstacle in
reaching their academic goals. Kevin did not have any role models who were Latino and had
achieved a degree. His idea of being a Latino male was helping his mother around the house
with chores, getting a trade to be able to get a good job, and eventually be able to support his
family because that is what he gathered as being valued from his family. He soon changed his
mind when he entered the IB program and was able to see different perspectives from different
cultures.
Lalo was also raised with a similar belief system. As a first-generation Latino student
raised in a Mexican immigrant family, he felt like being a Latino male hindered him. In addition
to the barriers he faced growing up in a low-income household, he recognizes that the
expectations of his family were very limited:
My mother and father, both first-generation Mexican immigrants, came to this country
searching for a better life, a life that included higher paying jobs, freedom, and the hope
of one day owning their own home. All this to them would only come from working
dead-end, go-nowhere jobs and saving every penny they could to achieve those goals
they had in mind, not once was education an answer for obtaining that better life they
wanted.
Jake also struggles with being Latino who is trying to get a college degree in a STEM
field while establishing his own identity. He believes that the definition of what it means to be
Latino is based on what society thinks. For instance, when asked about his family’s influence on
his academic journey, he described how society views his mother and her children by putting
negative labels.
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My mom being Hispanic, society sees her a certain way. A stay-at-home mom not doing
things, not working, not taking care of her children, just being a drunk. She’s trying to
get help and is now part of an Alcoholics Anonymous group. She says it helps, but
sometimes I come home and still see her crazy. I think since society expects this from
Latino women, she didn't see anything outside of that perspective. I guess she was like,
‘This is how society sees me, this is how I'm going to be, this is how my family sees me,
this is who I am’.
Jake grew up believing in a negative stereotype of Latino’s living in poverty, in a small
apartment infested with “roaches”, with “ham and mayo sandwiches”, with no adult supervision
because they were either “working or drunk”. Jake still struggles with developing a positive
Latino identity.
Unlike the other participants, Alessandro does not believe his culture has been a
hindrance on his academic career. In fact, he strongly believes that being Latino had no
influence whatsoever on his academic journey and career choices. He describes how most of the
time, he struggles to relate to his Salvadorian heritage:
I consider myself an American first. Primarily, because I don't know the struggle of a
Salvadorian. I never lived in El Salvador. I might have family over there, I don't speak
the language very well, I've never really understood the culture. To me, I was born and
raised in California. I was born and raised as an American. My likes and my dislikes,
the things I like to do, are from here. This is home to me. I was partially raised by a
Jewish family that my mom used to work for, so I have probably more Jewish culture
than I do Hispanic culture. This has given me a whole different experience. I'm pretty
sure I would have ended up doing gangs and drugs if I was in downtown LA still. I
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would have been a different person. My schooling would have been different if it wasn’t
for that Jewish family.
Alessandro’s mother and father lived in downtown Los Angeles when Alessandro was
young. His mother was a maid, and eventually took a job in Sherman Oaks with a Jewish family
who invited them to stay in the home. They moved into the guesthouse and have now been
living there for 25 years. This is where Alessandro grew up, heavily exposed to the Jewish
culture. Alessandro has adopted the term American as his identity before he can relate to the
Latino ethnicity due to his past experiences. Therefore, although Alessandro is Latino, he does
not like to speak Spanish or adopt any of his family’s culture. He believes that not identifying
himself with the Latino culture has potentially helped him be successful.
Conclusion
This chapter presented the participant profiles and demographic information that was
acquired through the questionnaires, interviews, and autobiographies. This chapter also
presented the findings gathered throughout the data collection process that included thorough
one-on-one interviews, a questionnaire, the collection of an autobiography, and the observation
during the orientation. The data was presented through the lens of the PSC framework
(Castellanos & Gloria, 2007), which highlights the psychological, social, and cultural factors that
affect the persistence of Latino male students. First, while examining the psychological factors,
motivation and utility value, personal characteristics, fear, and self-efficacy were common
themes that emerged. Participants were inspired by observing their parents’ struggles to provide
for their families. For instance, Miguel felt that he owed his degree to his parents for all their
hard work. Another theme was the personal characteristics of the participants which included
their self-determination in spite of feeling academically insecure. Second, while exploring the
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social factors, two themes emerged that included college resources, mentor, faculty, and/or peer
support as well as family support. Participants felt that faculty had the greatest authority in
providing resources to their students such as information about scholarships and internships. For
instance, both Gabriel and Miguel were grateful to their professor who encouraged them to apply
to the NCAS program. Third, while exploring the cultural factors, three themes emerged that
included Latino family culture, Latino masculinity, and ethnic identity. For instance, some
participants felt that being Latino was a hindrance since they had no Latino role models at home
or at school. However, in spite of these challenges, all participants were motivated to be the first
in their families to attain their degrees to further inspire their siblings, children, and peers.
Hence, the following themes that emerged from the data that will be discussed in Chapter
Five of the study: (a) motivation and utility value, personal characteristics, fear, and self-efficacy
(b) college resources, mentor, faculty and peer support and family support, and (c) Latino family
culture, Latino masculinity and ethnic identity. Chapter Five also provides the implications for
the institution, implications for practice, recommendations for research, and a conclusion.

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Chapter Five: Discussion
The purpose of this study was to understand the psychological, social, and cultural factors
that affect Latino males who were interested in pursuing a STEM-related degree that originally
placed in a developmental math course during the assessment exam. The study revolved around
the narratives of six Latino male college students. The study participants reflected on their past
and present experiences in academia starting from elementary school while focusing on the
psychological, social, and cultural factors that have influenced their persistence. Various themes
emerged in Chapter Four that were relevant in answering the research questions that will be
discussed in this chapter, sorted under the three categories of the PSC framework (Castellanos &
Gloria, 2007). Following this section, the study will discuss the implications of practice and
provide recommendations for future research.
Summary of Findings
Based on the interviews, autobiographies, and questionnaire of six Latino male college
students, the findings were categorized under psychological, social, and cultural factors. First,
focusing on the psychological category, four major themes emerged from the study that included
(1) motivation and utility value, (2) personal characteristics, (3) fear, and (4) self-efficacy.
Second, while examining the social factors that affect persistence, the study found two major
themes that included (1) college resources, mentor, faculty, and/or peer support, and (2) family
support. Finally, while exploring the cultural factors that affect persistence, that study found
three major themes that included (1) Latino family culture, (2) Latino masculinity and (3) ethnic
identity.

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Psychological Influences
According to Gloria and Rodriguez (2000), while looking at the psychological
dimension, common sub-variables that emerge are often self-efficacy and self-esteem that
include self-beliefs and attitudes, such as motivation. Consistent with their research, in this
study all the participants were greatly influenced by their (1) motivation and utility value, (2)
personal characteristics, (3) fear, and (4) self-efficacy. First, all participants were driven to
succeed in their coursework, transfer to a university and eventually complete their STEM
Bachelors of Science degree by their own personal motivations. Since all the participants were
first-generation college students, they were motivated and determined to succeed and to set the
example for their peers, siblings, and children. All the participants were passionate about their
individual degrees and thus, they were driven to complete their degree. Participants were also
motivated to helping increase the Latino presence in the STEM field and were willing to put in
the work necessary to accomplish this task. Additionally, participants were motivated by
observing the struggles of their parents and their siblings who did not have the opportunity to go
to college and instead, entered the workforce. For instance, Miguel felt that he owed his success
to his parents and all the effort they put in to help him succeed. Furthermore, utility cost was
also a common motivator for all the participants. Due to growing up in low-income households,
they observed the struggles of their parents, and as a result, the participants were motivated to
complete a STEM degree because they were guaranteed a high paying career that would provide
them with financial stability. For instance, after working 15 years in various retail and restaurant
jobs, Alessandro was determined to complete his degree in spite of all the work that is necessary
for him to transfer.
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These findings are consistent with the research of Hernandez and Lopez (2005) who
found that some of the major factors that affect the success of Latino males include motivation,
utility value, and academic self-concept. Their study found that students who had high levels of
motivation, utility, and academic self-concept, were more likely to succeed academically than
those who had low levels.
Also consistent with the research of Hernandez and Lopez (2005) who focused on self-
confidence and academic self-concept, in this study, the participants’ success in their coursework
has been greatly influenced by their personal characteristics. All the participants faced many
challenges growing up that have positively developed their determination and character. For
instance, many participants often questioned their confidence in themselves to attend college
because they were not expected to attend college by their families. Although all the participants
described themselves as self-determined and self-motivated, the participants also questioned
their ability to emotionally cope with and persevere in spite of various psychological, social, and
cultural challenges they often faced.
Hence, fear was the third theme that emerged from this section when discussing their
academic journeys and their outlook on the future. The participants admitted to having various
fears and concerns that caused anxiety. Such fears included fears of failing in spite of working
hard and investing long hours on their coursework, funding their education once they transfer,
getting accepted into their top choice university, having to leave their parents once they transfer,
and quitting college due to mental health related issues and financial struggles. For instance,
Kevin discussed fears of failing out of college due to being unable to cope with emotional stress
and anxiety while balancing his academics, work, and family. Lalo feared losing his job and
thus not being able to finance his education since he does not receive financial aid. However, in
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spite of this, participants generally described themselves as optimistic, self-motivated, and
determined to succeed and persevere among their challenges.
These findings are consistent with the research of Perez (2017) who examined the
academic determination and community cultural wealth of 21 Latino male college students.
Perez (2017) found that in spite of having unclear educational goals and various fears of failure,
the participants in the study were able to academically succeed in spite of their fears while being
able to balance their social, personal, and academic commitments with the support of their peer
networks and personal characteristics that included self-motivation and self-determination.
Moreover, the fourth theme that emerged in this section is the influence of self-efficacy
on students’ persistence that includes academic confidence and preparation, academic identity
and mindset. Participants often struggled with developing their confidence in their academic
capabilities. Similarly, participants were also challenged with establishing their academic
identity. Most students admitted to feeling academically insecure, which has significantly
affected them in their academic journey. Most of the participants agreed to feeling as if they
were not prepared enough by their high school teachers to keep up with their peers now in
college. For instance, Lalo felt insecure about his academic ability primarily due to his
experiences in high school with teachers who were not supportive. Furthermore, all the
participants admitted to not preparing in advance for the assessment exam and were surprised to
be placed in a developmental math course. However, being placed in a developmental math
course did not deter the students from pursuing a STEM degree, in spite of the additional courses
they needed to take prior to taking a college-level math course.
The impact of developmental math has not significantly affected the participants in
pursuing a STEM degree. However, some of the participants felt frustrated and self-conscious
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about their placement, whereas others were concerned about the additional courses they needed
to take. Since all the participants felt determined to pursue their STEM degree prior to the
placement, they were willing to take the necessary courses. At the time of the interviews, most
of the participants had already completed their developmental math courses and perceived their
experience in developmental math courses as necessary. As a result, the outlook on
developmental math courses may have been different if students were interviewed during their
first semester enrolled in a developmental math course.
In addition, many participants struggled to transform their negative academic identity into
a positive one until they were given an opportunity to be a part of a competitive program, such as
the National Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) scholarship program.
Unfortunately, most of the students began their college careers with a negative academic identity
that was established early in their academic journey. Many participants believed that their
negative academic identity was developed as early as elementary school when they lacked
academic support from their teachers. Finally, many of the participants agreed with the need and
importance of being able to develop a strong positive mindset to persevere in spite the self-
limiting beliefs they experienced through their childhood.
The findings on self-efficacy are consistent with the work of many scholars who have
looked at the persistence of Latino male students. Castellanos and Gloria (2007) included self-
efficacy as a sub-factor under psychological factors that affect the persistence of Latino male
college students within their PSC framework. Furthermore, Fajardo et al. (2016) examined the
attitudes, experiences, and perceptions of 11
th
grade high school students. The researchers found
that students who have a high self-efficacy are more likely to persist through their coursework
and as a result, are likely to complete their courses in spite of level of difficulty (Fajardo et al.,
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2016). Their study further emphasized the need to establish an academic identity early to be
successful throughout their academic journey (Fajardo et al., 2016).
Social Influences
Consistent with the PSC framework (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007), this study looked at
various social factors that influence persistence that included the following two major themes:
(1) college resources, mentor, faculty, and/or peer support and (2) family support. The first
theme focused on the college resources available to the participants and mentor, faculty, and/or
peer support that influence that persistence of the participants. Many of the participants stated
that although they were aware of tutoring services available, they were not likely to seek tutoring
due to schedule conflicts and limited tutoring in the subject matter. Additionally, many
participants felt more comfortable seeking help from their professor during class or during office
hours and working alongside their peers within the course. Furthermore, participants were more
likely to stay late on campus to study and work on their assignments as opposed to facing many
distractions at home. Participants also found that programs such as financial aid, EOPS, and the
new STEM office have been detrimental in providing access to funding, work experience, and
other resources. For instance, Gabriel, Kevin, and Jake were thankful for the EOPS program that
provided them with much needed support that included covering a portion of their books and
academic counseling services.
Moreover, most of the participants discussed how they often worked on assignments on
their own. This was evident during the observation when it was noted that students kept to
themselves and only focused on getting the information, filling out the paperwork, and heading
home. However, some of the participants discussed being inspired by the success of their peers
indirectly. Participants often compared themselves to their peers and felt like they had to work
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harder to keep up with them. Kevin explained how he was motivated to believe in himself by his
peers’ success. Alessandro found it important to be surrounded by a group of students who
thought similarly to him and had similar aspirations. Furthermore, all the participants felt that
faculty held an integral part in their academic success. For instance, Gabriel and Miguel, who
were closer to transferring than their peers, described their NCAS experience as life changing
and attributed the opportunity to their math professor. The faculty in this case not only shared
the opportunity with them, but also encouraged the students to apply and offered to write letters
of recommendations for them. Both students in this example gained confidence from the
experience and were able to develop a stronger academic identity before transferring to the
university due to faculty support. Furthermore, all the participants felt that faculty members who
had experience in the field had the opportunity to provide more opportunities and resources to
their students as well as more support. Participants also agreed on the importance of connecting
with faculty during office hours, but most desired a larger Latino representation within the
faculty.
These findings are consistent with Fajardo et al. (2016) who found that Latino male
students who were part of a sorority or an academic group that encouraged academic success
were more likely to succeed academically. Furthermore, these findings are consistent with the
research of Hernandez and Lopez (2005) who found that an increased amount of student
interaction with faculty and having individual mentor or being part of mentorship program plays
a large role in the success of Latino males. Likewise, Santos and Reigadas (2002) examined a
FMP and found that Latino male students were more likely to attain their education, career, and
personal goals if they have frequent contact with their faculty mentors. Their study also
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indicated that students who were placed with the same-ethnic mentors were likely to be more
persistent.
Finally, the second theme under social factors affecting academic persistence was the
influence of family support. The participants defined family support in three different capacities
that included emotional, academic, and financial support. Most of the participants did not
receive any academic support as early as elementary school, and none of the participants
received academic support from their family beyond elementary school. As a result, the
participants felt that not receiving academic support from their parents compared with their peers
who did receive support, greatly hindered and halted their academic success. Commonly, the
participants felt they did not receive academic support from their parents because they were
unable to help them complete their homework because they did not know how to read and write
in English. For instance, Lalo recalled his mother sitting him in front of the television set instead
of helping him with his schoolwork when he was in elementary school. Likewise, Jake
described being pressured to complete his homework by his parents without receiving any
academic help from them. As a result, during the third grade, he gave up on asking for help and
stopped caring.
In addition, all the participants’ parents were low-income so they were unable to help
them financially, and thus, all the participants are responsible for funding their education through
their jobs, financial aid, EOPS, and scholarships. Many of the participants grew up with single
parents who had to work full-time jobs to sustain their family. Thus, most parents had little to no
time to help the participants in their coursework.
Finally, many participants believed that due to the lack of experience with college,
parents did not understand the struggles students face or the importance of preparation before
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entering college. Conversely, half of the participants agreed that their parents expected them to
attend college and were often times encouraged by their parents and siblings to succeed in school
and to be better prepared for college. On the contrary, the other participants who were not
encouraged to do well in school were not expected to go to college, instead, they were expected
to graduate high school and enter the workforce soon after. Many students agreed that academic
success starts with parental motivation and support.
These findings are consistent with Sáenz and Ponjuán (2009) who examined variables of
Latino males that affect their success in higher education. Sáenz and Ponjuán (2009) found that
family support plays a large role in the development, growth, and academic success of Latino
male students and indicated that students who have parents who completed high school or less,
are below the poverty threshold, and whose first language is non-English are likely to struggle
academically due to lack of parental support.
Cultural Influences
While exploring the cultural factors that affect students’ persistence in their coursework,
the study found three major themes that included (1) Latino family culture, (2) Latino
masculinity and (3) ethnic identity. The first theme focused on the impact of growing up in a
Latino family culture on academic persistence. All the participants grew up in Latino homes
with low-income immigrant parents who held strong Latino cultural values and beliefs. Many
participants agreed that their cultural values and beliefs have limited their perspective on
academic and career success throughout their childhood. For instance, most of the participants
were raised to believe that to be successful in life, a person needs to find a job in an established
factory, become a mechanic, or have a catering business, as well as work long hours and invest a
long period of time working at the same place. Due to the cultural beliefs of going straight into
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the workforce after high school, most participants were not planning to attend college because
they did not see it as a possibility. For instance, Lalo, Kevin, and Gabriel’s parents did not
expect or encourage them to go to college; instead, they encouraged them to get a stable job to
support their families. Lalo was encouraged to become a truck driver, whereas Kevin was
encouraged to become a mechanic and Gabriel a police officer. Fortunately, all three students
were able to overcome their parental and cultural expectations and pursued higher education.
Furthermore, the second theme focused on the participants’ perceptions of the ideology
of Latino masculinity. Participants were expected to work hard, get married, have children, and
provide for their immediate family. This ideology also included providing for their parents and
putting them first. For instance, both Kevin and Gabriel were concerned of transferring to a
university that might be further away because they will not be able to provide for their family.
Conversely, most of the participants felt they had an obligation to put their family first and
contribute at home in any way they can. For instance, Kevin, Lalo, Miguel, and Jake all felt
responsible for supporting their parents both financially and emotionally. Additionally, both
Lalo and Jake felt responsible for taking care of and inspiring their siblings. All six participants
felt that family cultural values served as a motivator for succeeding in their academics and future
careers so they could provide for the family.
Overall, these findings are consistent with the research of familismo that focuses on the
loyalty of the Latino male that includes taking care of his family and nurturing the sense of
togetherness (Figueroa et al., 2016). Additionally, these findings are also consistent with Ojeda
and colleagues (2011) who found that Latino male students are often motivated to succeed
academically when they focus on being capable of supporting their family upon graduation,
especially if they are encouraged to succeed by their family.
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The third theme focused on the influences of ethnic identity on the students’ persistence.
Since all the participants were first-generation college students, they did not have any role
models in their family that informed them about the college-going process so they struggled to
see themselves in college. Gabriel used the phrase, “seeing is believing” when he expressed that
he was unable to see himself as a college student because no one in his family went to college.
Many participants also expressed how their ethnic identity hindered their academic success
because of the negative stereotypes that come along being with Latino. Moreover, most of the
participants agreed that being a Latino student in STEM has often created anxiety, insecurities,
and feelings of not fitting in with their peers because they are usually the only Latino student in
their courses. Gabriel and Jake both described instances when they felt they were the only
Latino students pursuing STEM and how they often felt out of place because of it. Gabriel
struggled to identify with a STEM major or in a STEM career because none of his professors
were Latino and he did not know of any Latinos in in the field. As a result, participants
struggled with integrating success in college with their ethnic identity.
These findings are consistent with the research of Figueroa et al. (2016) who found that
Latino males are often deterred from succeeding in educational settings and instead are
encouraged to enter the workforce to provide for their family. Their study also emphasized that
in order for a Latino male to succeed in higher education, they must release the general low
expectations placed by traditional ethnic identity and gender roles (Figueroa et al., 2016).
Similar to this study, in spite of having feelings of insecurity and questions about their ethnic
identity, most participants were also driven by being Latino and were motivated to prove to their
peers that Latinos can also succeed in STEM courses.
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Overall, the findings of this study were examined through the PSC framework
(Castellanos & Gloria, 2007) in efforts to gain a better understanding of the impact of the
following components on Latino male students’ persistence: (1) the impact of developmental
math; (2) the psychological, social, and cultural factors; and (3) the resources available and the
role of faculty. Notably, it is important to review the limitations discussed in Chapter One when
discussing these findings. Due to the small sample, this study cannot be generalizable. Further,
since the researcher is female, this may have influenced or limited some of the participants’
responses. In addition, it is important to note that the responses to the impact of developmental
math courses may have been different if the participants were in their first semester of
developmental education. Finally, the participants’ experiences with faculty and resources at
LANC may have been expanded if most of the participants were closer to transferring.
However, the sample selected provided a diverse group of Latino male students with varying
ages, experiences, years in college, GPA, family country of origin, and work experience. In spite
of the diversity among the participants, the themes extracted were common among all
participants.
Implications for Institutional Policy
Based on the findings of this study, a few policy implications must be addressed within
the institution. First, the institution provides few resources that focus on supporting STEM
students. For instance, many of the students indicated having anxieties with the transferring
process, including funding, scholarships, application process, etc. Students may benefit by
receiving specific support by an assigned STEM counselor that focuses on providing transfer and
career support and informing them of resources and scholarships available to them. Currently,
the new STEM program (LANC, 2018), is grant funded for five years that focuses on increasing
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awareness of STEM college-wide, providing mentors and tutors to first-year college students.
Although this program has been very beneficial to the first-year participants, this program does
not support the STEM students who are not first-year students, which is very limiting for the
general population. Many students require assistance but those who are midway through their
program or are about to transfer are especially in need. These students must deal with receiving
the general college resources and may not have all the information to help them succeed. A
STEM program that is institutionalized and focuses on all STEM students, not just first-year
students, can provide greater support for students while also providing stability and a sense of
community.
Furthermore, the institution may also consider looking at promising interventions that
have successfully supported students in their STEM degrees. For example, the program La
Comunidad: A Place to Call Home, was a program that established different discipline
communities, such as a science community that helps develop identity within the group (Lu,
2015). This program focuses on addressing two of the findings, including developing self-
efficacy by developing an academic identity and being part of a social group with similar
expectations and values.
Moreover, students admitted to not preparing for the assessment exam, which affected
their placement scores. As a result, students were placed in lower levels of math. Although the
institution has current programs that support student preparation prior to the exam, the institution
must provide additional resources for students who cannot attend week-long programs. In
addition, the resources should be given to the student when they first enroll into the institution,
since students are not likely to look for the practice exams on their own. Another option may be
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to have a mandatory online pre-assessment course that can support students in preparing for the
assessment exam.
Implications for Practice
Given the low participation and success of Latino males in STEM degrees, the findings in
this research study are timely as they provide various implications for educators and practitioners
in higher education and in high schools. Although this study cannot be generalizable due to the
small sample, educators and practitioners can use the findings of this study to improve their
current strategies to support this population. Starting with the psychological influences,
educators and practitioners must be aware of and address the factors that affect persistence in
Latino male students, including motivation, personal characteristics, and self-efficacy. This
study highlighted the importance of Latino males to be motivated to complete their degree and
the influence of their negative personal characteristics. Since motivation and self-concept are
two major factors that influence the success of Latino males, focusing on interventions that can
serve to improve students’ motivation and self-concept are necessary (Hernandez and Lopez,
2005). Providing emotional support to students through establishing peer support groups,
faculty-student mentorships, and individual counseling can further provide support to students
when they are struggling with their self-esteem and confidence (Sáenz & Ponjuán, 2011).
Furthermore, according to Rueda (2011), self-efficacy can be influenced by prior
knowledge, previous feedback, and previous successes and failures. This study found that the
participants felt insecure at times when considering their academic capabilities due to past
experiences and often struggled with developing their academic identity. Thus, offering students
supplemental activities that focus on building their self-efficacy, such as providing workshops
and resources that help students learn how to improve their study skills and how to overcome
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their negative self-elicited beliefs, can be beneficial. For the sake of this study, I will define the
term self-elicited beliefs as the beliefs that are innately developed by the self in response to past
experiences and social and environmental influences.
According to Sáenz and Ponjuán (2011), developing practices that focus on creating
interventions for enhancing study skills and time management can support Latino males’
persistence. In helping to establish an early academic identity in Latino males, high school
educators and practitioners can support students by providing similar workshops and resources
that focus on enhancing study skills and defeating the negative self-elicited beliefs. In addition,
high school teachers and practitioners can support students early by providing ongoing feedback
on student progress and encouraging a school culture that focuses on being prepared for college.
Moreover, higher education leaders must be aware and establish programs that support
Latino male students based on the social influences that include college resources, mentor,
faculty, and peer and family support. Participants in this study found college resources
extremely helpful throughout their college experience. As discussed in the previous section, by
developing programs such as La Comunidad: A Place to Call Home, students will develop a
sense of identity within their peer group and receive additional necessary resources to be able
advance in their degree (Lu, 2015). When developing mentorship programs, it is important to
keep Latino males in mind during the planning process. It is imperative that these interventions
offer male-oriented spaces, special workshops that encourage Latino males in STEM, provide
same-ethnicity role models and mentors that Latino males can relate to, and offer academic
advising and career planning specifically focusing on Latino males (Sáenz et al., 2016).
Furthermore, it is also important for faculty in the classroom to have access to resources and
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share scholarship, internship, and research opportunities with their students since they are the
primary source of contact for the students.
The findings in this study are consistent with the research that has found that family
support is detrimental to the success of Latino male students especially during stressful times
(Gloria et al., 2005; Hernandez, 2002). This study found that most participants were not
supported academically by their family, some were encouraged emotionally to pursue college,
and none were supported financially. These findings were often considered barriers for the
student. It is important for educators and practitioners in higher education to be aware of how
family encouragement affects Latino male students’ persistence. By providing training that
helps college personnel understand when family influence can serve as motivation or a barrier to
persistence, college personnel will be more equipped to help their students deal with various
challenges (Ojeda & Castillo, 2016). Moreover, a common concern found in this study is the
lack of financial support from their parents and the need to provide financial support to their
parents. Therefore, a priority should be placed on providing programs that focus on navigating
financial aid for Latino male students and their families and in learning how to develop financial
literacy since they will need to budget their finances to provide support to their parents (Ojeda et
al., 2011).
Practitioners and educators must also be aware of the cultural factors that affect the
persistence of Latino males, such as Latino family culture values, beliefs, and ethnic identity. In
this study, participants felt that their cultural values and beliefs had limited their perspective on
academia and career success. Therefore, it is detrimental to incorporate conversations that focus
on diversity and inclusion throughout institutions (Figueroa, 2016). Providing professional
development to college personnel that focuses on being culturally responsive has also proved to
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be helpful in supporting the success of Latino males. Additionally, including a required course
for students in cultural responsiveness supplemented with a gender studies course may assist
Latino males in self-evaluating themselves and developing their own expectations (Figueroa,
2016).
Various students in this study struggled with developing their personal identity due to
their cultural beliefs on ethnic identity. The findings indicated that the participants felt that their
ethnic identity hindered the academic success due to the negative stereotypes that are associated
with being a Latino male. Therefore, it is important for institutions to focus on expanding
counseling and psychological services to assist this population as they establish themselves
within their identity development (Figueroa, 2016). Overall, to support academic persistence
successfully among Latino males, it is detrimental to understand first the achievement gap and
then focusing on examining the psychological, social, and cultural factors (Ponjuán, 2016).
Once educators and practitioners understand the factors affecting Latino males, they will be able
to develop programs and interventions that focus on the success and persistence of Latino males.
Recommendations for Research
The findings in this study reflect a new body of knowledge that can be used by
educators and practitioners in higher education to improve their practices as they move to
improve the success and persistence of Latino male students. This study found that participants
were greatly motivated to attain their intensive STEM degree in spite of being placed in a
developmental math course by being passionate about the subject, observing the struggles of
their parents and siblings who did not pursue or attain a college education, and the rewards they
would receive such as a high paying stable job. In addition, the study found that the participants
often questioned their confidence, felt academically insecure, and often struggled with fears and
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anxiety due to various cultural values, beliefs, their past experiences, and stereotypes due to their
ethnic identity. With that in mind, future research should examine the long-term impact of fear
and negative self-elicited beliefs due to cultural values, beliefs, and stereotypes dealing with
ethnic identity on students’ self-efficacy, motivation, and overall persistence of this population.
Further, research should examine the best practices and interventions occurring nationwide to
help students deal with the long-term effects of fear and negative self-elicited beliefs on self-
efficacy, motivation, and overall persistence of this population. Finally, research should
investigate programs nationwide that have focused on increasing training in cultural
responsiveness and gender roles that focus specifically in the development of Latino males for
campus personnel and students.
Conversely, this study found that participants struggled to establish an academic identity
early in their academic journey. Therefore, expanding research to focus on how and when
Latino male students establish their academic identity can provide a better understanding of their
development. This may help build interventions at the right time that can them help to develop
students’ academic confidence while also supporting them in establishing their academic
identity.
This study also found students did not prepare before taking the assessment exam thus,
being placed in a class lower than expected. With this in mind, future research should focus on
the best practices of new interventions that are being conducted nationwide that focus on
improving the educational pathways for students at community colleges. Some considerations
should be placed on curriculum redesign of developmental courses that can improve the
estimated average time spent in developmental education. Moreover, research should explore
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quality bridge programs that focus on both traditional and non-traditional students, such as
evening and online students.
The findings in this study indicated that since all the selected participants were passionate
about their career choice, they were not significantly impacted by their placement in
developmental math. Indeed, they appreciated learning the foundational skills. Therefore, future
research must look at the impact of developmental math on Latino male students prior to
entering the STEM field. Another consideration is focusing on the long-term commitment of the
students after their first semester. In addition, research should focus on the students who
dropped out or changed their major due to mathematics to determine the struggles of the students
and the shortfalls of the system.
The study also found that students were greatly supported and influenced by the faculty
more so than by anyone else in the college. Therefore, research should be expanded to focus on
best practices at community colleges that focus on the faculty professional development with an
emphasis on student engagement and support. Notably, focusing on faculty-student mentorship
best practices throughout community colleges that focus on Latino male students in STEM can
provide a deeper understanding on how faculty-student mentor relationships can support this
population.
Overall, there is limited research looking at Latino males in STEM who transfer from a
community college to a four-year university. It is recommended to explore the narratives of
students who have successfully transferred from a community college to a four-year college.
Looking at the psychological, social, and cultural factors that impact persistence through a
strength-based research lens can help educators and practitioners understand how this
population succeeds (Ponjuán, 2016). The findings can also determine the needs of the students,
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to be able to develop successful interventions that can serve and improve the success of this
population.
Conclusion
Overall, the purpose of this study was to determine the impact of developmental
mathematics on Latino males who were interested in pursuing a STEM degree. In addition, the
study focused on understanding their perceived psychological, social, and cultural factors that
affect persistence through the PSC framework (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007). The study also
focused on their perceptions of current support programs, the placement process, and the role of
counselors, faculty, and administration in facilitating support. To understand these topics
further, this study utilized interviews, autobiographies, and a demographic questionnaire with six
Latino male college students at different stages of their academic journey at LANC.
As it relates to first research question focusing on the concerns of being placed in a
developmental math course during their initial placement process, the findings of the study found
that participants were not significantly affected by their placement in developmental math. Since
all the participants were passionate about their career choice, even the ones that were in their first
semester of college, participants were willing to put in the work necessary to attain their degree.
Furthermore, the participants who completed their developmental coursework agreed that they
were happy they took the courses because it served as a foundation. Although this placement
created some academic insecurity and concerns about the time it would take to transfer, students
were not deterred by this placement overall. However, it is important to note that the findings
may have been different if the study focused on a larger number of students or if this interview
was held during the first semester for all students, soon after the placement exam. Since most
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students had taken at least one developmental math course, they may have reflected on the
benefits of the course first as opposed to their concerns.
The second question was developed to understand the psychological, social, and cultural
factors that affect Latino male students’ persistence. The findings in this study indicated that all
three factors have affected students’ persistence both positively and negatively. The
psychological factors, for instance, focused on motivation and utility value, personal
characteristics, and self-efficacy. The findings indicated that motivation was positively linked to
the persistence of the participants, as they were motivated to succeed by their past cultural
experiences and by utility value. In addition, the findings indicated that students’ past
experiences along with their personal characteristics, cultural values, and expectations can
influence their self-efficacy. Students often times questioned their academic abilities and their
ability to cope with emotional stress and had various fears and concerns due to various past
experiences, cultural beliefs, and gender roles that could ultimately negatively affect their
persistence. In spite of these insecurities, participants were able to develop a positive mindset as
part of their personal characteristics that has helped them to cope with the stress and insecurities
to persist academically.
Furthermore, this study found that college resources as well as faculty and family support
had a positive impact on students’ persistence. Students who were not encouraged by their
family to attend college did not decide to pursue college until they were influenced by different
factors in life. In addition, since the participants were not supported academically or financially
by their parents, this caused additional stress on students’ academic identities and current
financial stressors of funding their education. Likewise, supportive faculty who provided
resources had a positive influence on the students’ persistence.
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Moreover, the study found that most participants felt that their success and persistence in
education was hindered by their cultural values, belief, and ethnic identity. Most student were
raised to believe that a Latino male is expected to finish high school, get a stable job, get
married, have children, support the immediate family, and provide parents with financial support.
Unfortunately, for many of these students, attaining a college education was not in their plan
until they were exposed to different cultural belief systems or they found it necessary to attain
financial stability. Students also struggled with feelings of academic insecurity while trying to
fit in within the STEM community in college. Students attributed these struggles to the lack of
Latinos students and same-ethnicity faculty in STEM and due to the stereotypes associated with
their ethnic identity.
Hence, it is important to focus on the psychological factors that affect participants who
may not have the tools to deal with academic stressors, along with social and cultural stressors.
Providing additional mental health support services, resources, and workshops can further help
students deal with emotional stressors. Further, since students are greatly influenced by family,
it is important to involve family in all stages of a student’s educational journey.
The third research question focused on students’ perceptions of support programs,
placement process, and the role of counselors, faculty, and administration in facilitating support.
The study found that students are aware of various services provided by the college, such as
tutoring, but they are not likely to attend due to time conflicts or seeking assistance from the
faculty instead. Further, support programs such as EOPS and the new STEM program are
important to provide resources, including counseling, tutoring, and mentoring. As mentioned
above, students felt that faculty played an integral role with encouraging and supporting students
to succeed academically. Since faculty members are the main point of contact, participants
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agreed that they should be providing career insights, resources for scholarship and internships,
and act as mentors. Hence, a focus needs to be placed on providing professional development
for faculty to understand the needs of their students since they are the main source of contact for
most students. In addition, developing programs that focuses on establishing faculty-student
mentorship opportunities with a same-ethnic mentor can provide further support to this
population. Finally, having a database that contains STEM-centered scholarship, research and
internship opportunities are increasingly important to support Latino males.
Overall, Latino male students are challenged with psychological, social, and cultural
factors that positively and negatively affect their persistence and success in completing their
STEM degree. Students often times felt like they were not prepared for college by their high
school teachers, leading them to feel academically insecure at times. Being placed in a
developmental math course did not significantly affect the participants since they were extremely
passionate about their career choice. In this study, participants also struggled with balancing
cultural and social influences that have overtime developed several negative self-elicited beliefs.
Faculty and programs on campus significantly supported most of the students in developing their
academic identity. In spite of these various challenges, the participants in this this study have
been able to push beyond their negative self-elicited beliefs and fears, and have developed a
positive mindset through their self-determination that has helped them stay motivated and persist
through their academic journey.

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Appendices

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Appendix A: Participant Demographic Sheet and Questionnaire
Participant Demographic Sheet and Questionnaire
Academic Information
1. Name of College: ___________________________________
2. When did you start college (Year): _______ 3. Number of years in College: ______
4. Do you want to Transfer, get an AA degree, or Certificate?
________________________________________________________________________
5. What is your current major?_______________________________________________
6. Degree Aspirations (Check all that apply):
_____ Associate’s Degree
_____ Transfer
_____ Bachelor’s Degree
_____ Master’s Degree
_____ Ph.D.; J.D.; M.D.; Ed.D.
_____ Other (please Explain): _______________________________________________
7. Current Cumulative GPA: ____________
8. Anticipated Graduation Year: ___________________
9. During the Assessment test, did you place in Math 125 or lower (Yes or No)? ______
9b. If yes to question # 9, what course did you place in?
____ Math 125
____ Math 115
____ Math 112
____ Math 110
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STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
_____ Other (please Explain): _________________________________________
10. High School Demographics (Check all that apply):
____ Predominantly Latino
____ Racially Mixed/ Balanced
____ All Male
11. What type of high school did you attend (Public or Private)? ____________________
12. Name of high school? ____________________________________________
13. Location of high school? __________________________________________
Background Information
14. Birthplace (City, State, Country): ___________________________________
15. Year: ________________
16. Race and Ethnic Identity: __________________________________________
17. Gender: ____________
18. Mother’s Birthplace: ______________________________________________
19. Mother’s Occupation: _____________________________________________
20. Father’s Birthplace: _______________________________________________
21. Father’s Occupation: ______________________________________________
22. Father’s Highest Level of Education 23. Mother’s Highest Level of Education
____ Elementary ____ Elementary
____ Middle School ____ Middle School
____ High School ____ High School
____ Some College (No degree) ____ Some College (No degree)
____ Graduated from College in the US ____ Graduated from College in the US
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STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Activities and Engagement History
24. How do you finance your education? (Include all FAFSA, loans, scholarships, work)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
25. Are you currently employed? Full-time or part-time? What is your occupation?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
26. Are you part of an on-campus club or organization:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
27. List all college preparation programs (TRIO, EOPS, CalWORKs, STEM, etc.)
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
28. Which preparation program do you find most useful? Please Explain.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
29. How often did you visit the tutoring center for developmental math courses per
semester?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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Appendix B: Theoretical Framework Alignment Matrix
Theoretical Framework Alignment Matrix
Research Questions Theoretical Framework Data Instrument Question
What are the concerns of
Latino male students who
begin the pursuit of a STEM
related degree while initially
placing in a developmental
math course?

Psychosociocultural (PSC)
Framework
(Castellanos and Gloria,
2007)
Interview Questions: 1-5 and
11-13
Autobiography

What are the perceived
psychological, social and
cultural factors that impact
Latino male students’
persistence?

Psychosociocultural (PSC)
Framework
(Castellanos and Gloria,
2007)
Interview Questions: 1-17
Autobiography
What are the Latino male
students’ perceptions of the
support programs, placement
process, and the role of
counselors, faculty and
administration in facilitating
support?

Psychosociocultural (PSC)
Framework
(Castellanos and Gloria,
2007)
Interview Questions: 6-10
and 14
Autobiography

Questionnaire
Questions: 26-29
Demographic Questions All Questionnaire Questions

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STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Appendix C: Interview Protocol
Interview Protocol
Directions: Begin the interview by introducing myself, explaining the purpose of the study and
the process of the interview. Inform the participant that the interview will be recorded for
accuracy in data collection. Explain confidentiality process and mention they should refrain from
using direct identifiers. Let the participant know that participation in this study is voluntary and
they have the right to pass on any question or end the interview at any time without consequence.
Clarify and answer participant questions, if any, before starting the interview process.
Interview Questions
1. Tell me about your academic goals.
2. As a Latino male, why do you want to achieve your academic goals?
3. Tell me about your concerns, if any, of being placed in a developmental math course.
4. How did being placed in a developmental math course impact your decision to choose a
STEM degree?
5. Tell me about your experience with math courses.
6. Tell me about your experience with the placement process at LANC?
7. What characteristics do you hold that have helped you in attaining your academic goals?
8. What programs, if any, have you used at LANC to support you in your developmental
math courses?
9. Tell me about your experiences working with peers to achieve your academic goals.
10. Tell about any significant people that have helped you with your academic goals?
11. Tell me about your experiences with any mentors, counselors, faculty or administrators
that have influenced your academic goals.
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STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
12. Tell me about your educational pre-college experience.
13. As a Latino male, how did your parents and family influence your academic goals?
14. Tell me about your experience with mathematics in primary and secondary school.
15. In primary or secondary school, what programs, if any, helped you succeed?
16. As a Latino male, how did your culture influence your academic goals?
17. Tell me about any events in your life that have influenced your academic goals?
18. Is there anything else you would like to share with me?

151
STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Appendix D: Recruitment Flyer
Now recruiting STEM Majors to
be part of an innovative research
study!!

Are you interested in participating in a research study that
will help educators improve best practices at community
colleges for Latino males in STEM?

Who: Latino male students who are pursuing a degree in
STEM (Must have placed in Math 125 or lower during the
original assessment)
When: October 2017 (Dates to be announced)
Compensation: $25 gift card

For more information please contact Sorangel Hernandez at
sphernan@usc.edu or call/text (323) 972-8938.

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STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Appendix E: Letter of Consent
Consent to Participate in a Research Study
Subject’s Name: _________________________________ IRB Study #: _________________
Student ID #: ___________________________
You are being asked to participate in a research study. A research study is how scientists (doctors,
educators and other professionals) try to understand how things work and gain new knowledge. A
research study can be about how the body works, what causes disease, how to treat diseases, or what
people think and feel about certain things.
Before you decide whether you will participate in this research study, the investigator must tell you
about (i) the purposes of the research study, the activities that will take place - these are called
procedures, and how long the research will last; (ii) any procedures that are experimental (being tested);
(iii) any likely risks, discomforts, and benefits of the research; (iv) any other potentially helpful
procedures or treatment; and (v) how your privacy will be maintained.
Where applicable, the investigator must also tell you about (i) any available payment or medical
treatment if injury or harm occurs; (ii) the possibility of unknown risks; (iii) situations when the
investigator may stop your participation; (iv) any added costs to you; (v) what happens if you decide to
stop participating; (vi) when you will be told about new findings that may affect your willingness to
participate; and (vii) how many people will be in the study.
If you agree to participate, you must be given a signed copy of this document and a copy of the
approved consent form for this study written in English.
You may contact Ms. Sorangel Hernandez at (323) 972-8938 any time you have questions about the
research or about what to do if you are injured. You may contact the Institutional Review Board, at 323-
223-2340 if you have any questions about your rights as a research subject.
Your participation in this research is voluntary (your own choice), and you will not be penalized or lose
benefits if you refuse to participate or decide to stop. Signing this document means that the research
study, including the above information, has been described to you orally, and that you voluntarily agree
to participate.

______________________________________ ____________________
Signature of Participant Date
_________________________/____________________ ______________________
Printed Name/Signature of the Witness Date

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STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Appendix F: Autobiography Protocol
Autobiography Protocol
Please tell your story as it relates to academia. Refer back to as far as you can remember
and discuss your experiences in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Please
include any cultural or social influences, fears, beliefs, wishes, etc. Please describe any social
and cultural influences both negative and positive (family, friends, teachers, mentors, religion,
clubs, organizations, jobs etc.).
Requirements: There is no page limit but please be as descriptive as possible. Submit the
autobiography to the researcher at sphernan@usc.edu before November 13
th.
Submit a single
spaced, 12 inch font, typed autobiography. Please include your Alias.

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STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Appendix G: Study Information Sheet for Research

University of Southern California
Information Sheet for Research

The Impact of Developmental Math on Latino Male in STEM
You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Sorangel Hernandez at the
University of Southern California. Please read through this form and ask any questions you might
have before deciding whether or not you want to participate.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This research study aims to understand the impact of developmental math on Latino male students
in STEM and the psychological, social, and cultural factors that impact their persistence.
PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in an initial orientation, sign
a consent form, fill out a questionnaire, be interviewed, follow up interview if necessary, and
complete an autobiography. Please keep in mind, you do not have to answer any questions you
don’t want to.
PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will receive a $25 gift card for your participation.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Any identifiable information obtained in connection with this study will remain confidential. At
the completion of the study, direct identifiers will be destroyed and the de-identified data may be
used for future research studies. If you do not want your data used in future studies, you should
not participate.
The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects
Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research studies
to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.
INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact Sorangel
Hernandez at (323)972-8938 and/or sphernan@usc.edu.
IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant or the
research in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to someone
independent of the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review Board
(UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or
upirb@usc.edu.

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STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Appendix H: Code Book

Color Codebook
Research Question 1: Bright Green. Answers this research question.
Research Question 2: Yellow. Answers this question other than psychological, social or cultural.
Psychological: Green. Gives important information relating this factor.
Fears: Teal. Gives important information relating this sub-theme.
Mindset: Turquoise. Gives important information relating this sub-theme.
Social: Dark Red. Gives important information relating this factor.
Cultural: Royal Blue. Gives important information relating this factor.
Research Question 3: Red. Answers this research questions.
Recommendations: Pink. Gives other important information relating to a solution.
Need to follow up: Gray. Indicates a need to follow up with the participant.
Participant background information: Dark Yellow. Participant background information.
Other useful information or questions: Violet. Any useful information not included above.

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STRUGGLES BUILD CHARACTER
Appendix I: Orientation Observation Protocol
Orientation Observation Protocol
Observation Type: Date:
Number of Students: Location:

Research Questions of the Study:
1. What are the concerns of Latino male students
who begin the pursuit of a STEM related degree
while initially placing in a developmental math
course?
2. What are the perceived psychological, social
and cultural factors that impact Latino male
students’ persistence?
3. What are the Latino male students’ perceptions
of the support programs, placement process,
and the role of counselors, faculty and
administration in facilitating support?

Questions to Consider:
What is the physical setting?
How are participants interacting with
each other?
What are students’ behaviors with the
researcher?
How was the participants’ engagement?

Time: Descriptive Notes: Reflective Notes:
6:00 PM
6:15 PM
6:30 PM
6:45 PM
7:00 PM

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The U.S. Latino male college population is challenged with various factors that attribute to the low success of attaining a higher education degree. The purpose of this narrative study was to understand the impact of developmental mathematics and the psychological, social, and cultural factors that influence the persistence of Latino male students in STEM at a Southern California community college. The qualitative study revolved around the narratives of six Latino male college students who were pursuing a degree in a STEM field, through interviews, autobiographies, questionnaires, and an observation. The study interpreted the literature, presented, and discussed the findings through the psychosociocultural (PSC) framework. Various themes emerged that influenced the persistence of the participants, including motivation and utility value, personal characteristics, fear, self-efficacy, college resources, mentor, faculty and/or peer support, family support, Latino family culture, Latino masculinity and ethnic identity. Given the low participation and success of Latino males in STEM degrees, the findings in this research study are timely as they provide various implications for practice and recommendations for research in higher education.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Hernandez, Sorangel Paola (author)

Core Title Struggles build character: the impact of developmental math and the psychological, social and cultural factors that influence Latino males' persistence in STEM

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 04/11/2018

Defense Date 03/07/2018

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

Tag community college,Latino male,OAI-PMH Harvest,persistence,PSC,STEM

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tobey, Patricia (committee chair), Combs, Wayne (committee member), Crispen, Patrick (committee member)

Creator Email sphernan@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-3817

Unique identifier UC11670942

Identifier etd-HernandezS-6218.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-3817 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-HernandezS-6218.pdf

Dmrecord 3817

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Hernandez, Sorangel Paola

Type texts

Source 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 a...

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