Latin@ advocacy in the hyphen: faculty identity and commitment in a Hispanic‐serving institution

This study examines our experiences as female junior scholars with multicultural backgrounds teaching at the same Hispanic‐serving institution. As education scholars with mixed‐heritage families, we identify with the commitment to serving Latinos and the number of mixed‐heritage people in the USA. The election of Barack Obama, whose racial background is both black and white, to the US presidency signifies the emergence of mixed‐heritage people as a demographic presence in this country. Our research suggests that more understanding is needed about the experiences of mixed‐heritage faculty in academia, as well as the ways in which faculty from any background may develop multiple affiliations with cultural communities and pursue professional agendas related to communities that they do not neatly fit into. Despite this variation in backgrounds and research agendas, we share our efforts in advancing Latin@ educational attainment.     

Interventions supporting baccalaureate achievement of Latinx STEM students matriculating at 2-year institutions: A systematic review

Numerous national reports have identified the importance of significantly improving pathways that begin with Latinx students enrolling in 2-year institutions and ultimately completing baccalaureate degrees in STEM fields at 4-year institutions. Many programs using multiple interventions have been designed, implemented, and studied to achieve this goal. To synthesize what has been learned from studies of these programs, this article presents a systematic review of published studies of programs designed to support Latinx student success in 2-year institutions and successful transfer to 4-year institutions, particularly for STEM majors. A total of 49 quantitative, 9 qualitative, and 16 mixed-methods studies published as reports, articles, or dissertations since 1980 were identified that met the criteria for the review. Studies covered a wide range of interventions, including mentoring, counseling, advising, study groups, tutoring, scholarships, orientations, career services, undergraduate research, articulation agreements, and transfer programs. Individually, these studies report positive influences on student success outcomes, including 2- and 4-year graduation, transfer to a 4-year institution, retention, and success in individual courses. However, the number of qualifying studies was surprisingly small, considering the importance of improving success of Latinx students and the length of time during which the problem has been repeatedly emphasized. Few interventions have been undertaken from explicitly assets-based perspectives or theoretical frameworks. The lack of explicit frameworks underlying interventions—combined with a sole/primary focus on students—suggests many interventions were approached from a deficit-based perspective. Further, the study found no pattern of replication studies that might confirm effectiveness of potentially promising interventions. Based on our analysis of evaluations presented in the studies, it does not appear that the research community has developed agreed-upon methods to evaluate commonly agreed-upon outcomes. Finally, no intervention has been sufficiently supported that widespread implementation could be recommended.     

Formal and parental sex education differences among Hispanic young women by nativity status

This study sought to investigate the association between nativity status and Hispanic young women’s formal sex education and parental sex education in the USA. We used data from a cross-sectional sample of 310 Hispanic young women aged 18–24 years old from the 2013–2015 US National Survey of Family Growth. We assessed 11 outcomes: four formal sex education topics; receiving any formal sex education; a formal sex education scale; four parental sex education topics; and receiving any parental sex education. The majority of our sample was US-born Hispanic versus foreign born (72.6% and 27.4% respectively). Foreign-born Hispanics were less likely to have received any type of formal sex education than US-born Hispanics (adjusted odds ratio = 0.81; 95% confidence interval: 0.24, 0.68, p < 0.01). Foreign-born Hispanics were less likely to have received parental HIV sex education than U.S.-born Hispanics (aOR = 0.36; 95% CI: 0.14, 0.97, p < 0.05). Nativity status did not have a significant effect on each unit increase on the scale (aB = –0.07, SE = 0.16; aβ = –0.42, p > 0.05). Our results indicate that having appropriate sex education knowledge is better than not being cognisant. Future studies should however examine the quality and content of sex education programmes so policymakers can better understand these young women’s sexual behaviours and decisions.     

Exploring Views about LARCs Among Parenting Rural Latinx Teenagers,Their Mothers,and Providers: Implications for Sexuality Education and Care

While long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) reduces risk of repeat-births, use remains low among rural Latinx adolescent mothers. This qualitative study identified perspectives about factors that influence LARC use among this population. Participants were dyads of parenting Latinx adolescent daughters and their mothers (n?=?9 dyads) and nurses (n?=?17). Findings revealed themes specific to this vulnerable population including (a) distinct ways LARC characteristics fit into parenting teenagers’ lives, (b) supportive health care climate toward LARCs, and (c) factors that inhibit LARC uptake. The study has implications for sexuality education that seeks to reduce repeat-births among this population.     

“‘I Was Gonna Go Off,but My Best Friend is White.”: Hispanic Students’ Co-Cultural Reasoning in a Hispanic Serving Institution

The researchers engaged in a qualitative analysis (using journaling and focus group methodology) of the communicative behaviors of Hispanic students with White institutional members at a medium-sized, Southwest HSI. Utilizing Co-Cultural Theory and Elaborative Coding analysis, the authors mapped how Hispanic students narrated their co-cultural communication and reasoning (i.e., why they engage in one strategy rather than another). The findings show that, although Hispanic students used almost all co-cultural strategies, their responses were clustered primarily around assimilationist strategies – indicating that they engage in a high degree of self-monitoring and self-censorship when interacting with White institutional members in an HSI. These results suggest that even when Hispanic students constitute a large or majority part of the institution’s population, they still feel the need to engage in behaviors that navigate White norms. The study concludes by examining the findings for co-cultural theorizing as well as providing insights for instructors who wish to engage in inclusive teaching practices.     

Buscando para nuestra latinidad: Utilizing La Llorona for Cultural Critique

Abstract

This essay analyzes the contemporary constructions of Latina/o identity, Latina/o gender and Latina/o nationality as evidenced in the self-proclaimed “first major studio comedy to reflect the Hispanic cultural experience in America,” Chasing Papi. The contradictions between the film's progressive mission and the film's representations are teased out by a cross-reading of the film's usage of the popular Chicana/o mythic figure, La Llorona. Invoking La Lorona as muse and means, we find that the Latin Lover stereotype succeeds in its anti-assimilationist task while concurrently furthering confusion on who and what is a U.S. Latina/o. However, the authors also demonstrate how cultural cross-readings can provide hope out of delimiting discursive constructions.     

College students’ perceptions of television portrayals of Hispanics

Based on questionnaire responses from 381 undergraduate students, this study sought to examine perceptions of Hispanics on television. Results revealed that college students perceive Hispanics portrayals on television are mainly stereotypical and often highlight negative perceptions (e.g., lazy and ill-tempered). Students regarded Hispanics to be hardworking and to prioritize culture. Perceptions of Hispanic men were mainly controlling figures and Hispanic women were mostly caretaking characters. These findings suggest that television can affect the way college students view and possibly communicate with Hispanics.     

独立后的西属美洲缘何未建成统一的联邦国家？

西属美洲独立后没有建成统一的联邦国家,原因在于其独立前夕幅员辽阔,地理阻隔;重商主义和大庄园制度盛行,缺乏统一的经济联系;宗主国的“纵向主义”统治造成各自为政的局面;种族文化的多样性和社会结构的复杂性带来人们心理上的隔阂等等,而独立战争并没能改善这种破碎的结构,独立运动本身所呈现出来的一些局限性,如没有统一的领导和组织,各种分裂因素膨胀,缺乏普遍认同的新权威,各国政权的软化和军事化,财政上的困难重重,社会变革的失败等等,都加重了分裂局面,而来自外国列强的觊觎和干涉更是进一步破坏了西属美洲的团结。1811-1825年15个独立国家的出现表明差异性压倒了一致性,玻利瓦尔一体化的理想破灭。因此,对拉美现代化的研究应该重视各国民族国家的形成问题。     

¡Presente!: Affirming Latinx voices within health sciences library scholarship

Increasing diverse author representation within medical librarianship scholarship among BIPOC information professionals is an important endeavor that requires closer examination. This commentary looks to examine the ways in which the profession can support Latinx librarians and library workers in fully participating within the scholarly pipeline by exploring our unique and authentic voices, structural barriers, hesitation and fears, Whiteness in the profession and knowledge production, bias in the peer review process, lack of resources and support, and finally, a call to action.     

Relative Effects of English Proficiency on General Admissions Tests Versus Subject Tests

The increasing linguistic diversity of the United States student population has brought to the forefront problems in the interpretation of test scores for non-native speakers of English in graduate admissions. The degree to which test scores reflect English proficiency was studied using data on N = 451 students whose native language was Spanish. They had taken the GRE, English proficiency tests, and the PAEG, a test in Spanish used for admission to graduate schools in Puerto Rico. Regression analyses revealed that the proportion of variance explained by the English proficiency terms (independent of developed skills measured in Spanish) was highest for the GRE verbal test (34%), lowest for the quantitative test (8%) and intermediate for the analytical test (16%), the Psychology (18%) and Biology (17%) Subject tests. These findings are discussed in light of efforts to increase access to higher education for Hispanic students.