Latinos in Higher Education and Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Creating Conditions for Success is an ASHE (Associate for the Study of Higher Education) report from 2013. It’s concise, well-written, grounded in research and scholarship, and an extraordinarily handy guide. It helps provide an understanding of better and best practices across HSIs (Hispanic Serving Institutions) and other MSIs (Minority Serving Institutions), informing those that work in these colleges and universities, as well anyone who works with underrepresented students in higher education.
Authored by a team of four – Anne-Marie Nunez, a professor Educational Leadership, now at the Ohio State University and when this was written at the University of Texas at San Antonio, Richard E. Hoover, a senior lecturer in educational leadership at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Kellie Pickett, then a doctoral student and now a coordinator for the University of Nebraska-Omaha, A. Christine Stuart-Carruthers, then a doctoral student and now a Vice President for Enrollment at Texas State Technical College, and Maria Vazquez, also a doctoral student, the book has one narrative voice. It begins with data – demographic and trends – and offers more data to situate the study in the larger issue of the shifting nature of American higher education enrollment. The scope includes community colleges, baccalaureate institutions, and, to a lesser degree, the K-20 pipeline.
The authors move quickly over theory, drawing from many well-known figures in the education field and supplementing their work with specialized studies. I found their reference of Bourdieu and his concepts of field, habitus, practice and capital to be particularly apt. It assists when diving more deeply in to the factors that prevent and aid Latinx student success. For example, the authors look at student factors through the lenses of academic capital, financial capital, cultural capital, and social capital. Theory is employed here to be helpful; there is no discussion of theory for theory’s sake.
The heart of the book is a review of mainstream approaches to Latino student success, culturally responsive approaches, and the development and importance of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) to the higher education community and the students it serves. There is much good information here. The great diversity within the Latino community is appropriately highlighted. So, too, is the importance of institutionally-specific programming informed by research and the knowledge that problems and solutions are often structurally similar across the broad sector. In other words, effective strategies have to be “tailored to their various institutional contexts.” One size will not fit all.
A brief history of the development of HSIs, a federal government designation, and its impact on funding and priorities, rounds out the book. HSI status is based on enrollment. As Latinos are a highly segregated population in terms of residency across the United States, HSIs are clustered in key states, mostly in the South and the West. HSIs are often innovators and leaders in meeting the particular needs of Latino students, but HSIs also face particular challenges. The authors call for more research on ways that HSIs can function more effectively.
Borrowing from the book’s theoretical framework, reading Latinos in Higher Education can offer more than intellectual/academic capital. I often share sections or ideas gleamed from books or journals with with colleagues and students (Yes, I can be that annoying to work with). One short section of Latinos in Higher Education resonated with me and others, leading to many nodding heads and good discussions.
In a larger examination of Latino families, the authors call out the importance of honor, good manners and respect, which they align with three values: educacion, respeto and confianza. The Spanish terms are helpful. Educacion is formal education, training, and the potential of the development of an individual into a moral, adult whole person. Respeto is mutual respect. The authors emphasize the importance of moral integrity and respect within Latin cultures. Building from these foundational principles, it is possible to establish confianza between institutions, institutional players, and students and their families.
Confianza is trust and “the capacity to relate to another individual with confidence, in a trusting way.” It includes outreach, cultural and linguistic competencies, and validating the experience of others. This is, in many ways, the real aim of Hispanic Serving Institutions: rightfully earning, through consistent actions over time, the trust of the communities they serve. Trust needs to be mutual, too: institutions have to trust their students and communities. I am interested in exploring this further, in scholarship and in practice.
Latinos in Higher Education and Hispanic-Serving Institutions is a valuable contribution to the field. I recommend it highly.
David Potash