Creator

Laura Lara

Advisor

McDevitt, Teresa

Committee Member

Cochran, Kathryn F.

Committee Member

Canales, Genevieve

Committee Member

Rodriguez, Katrina

Department

Educational Psychology

Institution

University of Northern Colorado

Type of Resources

Text

Place of Publication

Greeley (Colo.)

Publisher

University of Northern Colorado

Date Created

12-1-2009

Genre

Thesis

Extent

216 pages

Digital Origin

Born digital

Description

Young adults from Latina/o backgrounds draw from cultural assets and wrestle with distinctive challenges as they enter into, study at, and graduate from institutions of higher education. In this investigation, I examined the perspectives of Latina/o college students with low and high academic achievement, focusing on their upbringing within families and their identification with their cultural heritage. A sequential mixed method study was implemented and the study was grounded in Margaret Spencer's PVEST framework (1995, 2006), the development of ethnic identity (Umaña-Taylor, Yazedjian, & Bámaca-Gómez, 2004), and factors associated with the academic achievement of students from Latina/o backgrounds. Results suggest four factors related to the academic achievement of Latina/o college students: Family, Religion, Support, and Motivation. Furthermore, results from the Ethnic Identity Survey suggest that students in the low GPA group were categorized as diffuse positive, while students in the high GPA group were classified as moratorium positive. Qualitative results supported these findings, and added depth to how students viewed success, prepared academically, identified academic successes and challenges, accentuated sources of motivation, and highlighted the importance of academic support from parents and universities. Future research considerations are discussed as well as implications for education.

Degree type

PhD

Degree Name

Doctoral

Language

English

Local Identifiers

Lara_unco_0161N_10020.pdf

Rights Statement

Copyright is held by author.

COinS