Latinos in Higher Education and Hispanic-Serving Institutions

by Anne-Marie Nuñez et al. (review)

Cynthia Maribel Alcantar

The Review of Higher Education, Volume 38, Number 4, Summer 2015,

pp. 630-633 (Review)

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press

For additional information about this article

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630 The Review of Higher Education
Anne-Marie Nuñez, Richard E. Hoover, Kellie
Pickett, A. Christine Stuart-Carruthers, & Ma-
ria Vazquez. Latinos in Higher Education and
Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 2013. 152 pp. Paperback:
$29.00. ISBN 978-1-118-67371-3.
Reviewed by Cynthia Maribel Alcantar, Research
A ssociate for the I nstitute for I mmigration ,
G lobalization , and E ducation , and D octoral
Candidate, Graduate School of Education and
Information Studies, University of California,
Los Angeles
Although college enrollment in the United States
has increased over the last forty years, college
degree attainment continues to stagnate at only
39% (Lumina Foundation for Education, 2013).
Furthermore, equity in college access and college
degree attainment between White students and La-
tina/os continues to widen; in 2013 42% of Whites
(25 years and older) had earned an associate’s de-
gree or higher compared to 22% of Latina/os (Ex-
celencia in Education, 2015). Although the Latina/o
population is rapidly increasing nationally, they
are disproportionately more likely to attend less
selective four-year colleges or community colleges,
require developmental courses in college, and take
longer to complete a degree than White students
for a number of reasons, such as inequitable high
school college preparation (Excelencia in Educa-
tion, 2015). Because of these education equity gaps
and the changing demography of Latina/os in the
United States, it is imperative that researchers,
practitioners, and policymakers further examine
the educational pathways of Latina/os and identify
strategies to better serve these students. Anne-
Marie Nuñez, Richard E. Hoover, Kellie Pickett,
Christine Stuart-Carruthers, and Maria Vasquez
(2013) provide a brief, but thorough, review of the
research and literature pertinent to Latina/os in
higher education with a focus on institutions and
institutional agents that serve them.
The first section of the book describes Latina/
os demographically, socially, and culturally and
outlines the strengths and challenges Latina/o
students face in achieving educational success
(Chapter 1–4). Chapter one presents the signifi-
cance of examining the educational experiences of
Latina/os in higher education, for Latina/os cur-
rently represent the largest non-White population
in the U.S. and in college, but have the lowest rate
of degree completion. The next chapter describes
the variation in the Latina/o population by describ-
ing the three largest Latina/o ethnic subgroups in
the U.S. (Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and
Cuban Americans). Lastly, the authors present
Latina/o social and cultural factors that may influ-
ence the educational experiences of students, such
Summer 2015
as: a) family, b) language use, c) religious values,
d) neighborhood composition, and e) (im)migrant
experiences and citizenship. These chapters are
followed by theoretical frameworks grounded in
Latino Critical Theory (LatCrit) to understand the
identity development of Latina/o students and its
impact on educational success (Chapter 3).
Chapter 4 begins by presenting the challenges
to Latina/o student success using a multiple capitals
framework which include: “1) academic capital (ac-
ademic preparation and skills), 2) financial capital
(economic wealth), 3) cultural capital (information
that is necessary to navigate institutions like edu-
cation but is not explicitly taught in schools), and
4) social capital (the potential for social networks
and connections to facilitate access to educational
opportunities)” (p. 41). In addition, the authors
include culturally responsive or “nondominant”
capitals that affect Latina/o student success such
as: 5) family concerns/family capital (the strength
and support from the family), 6) assumptions
about Latinos’ backgrounds and their potential,
and 7) campus climate (student’s positive/nega-
tive perceptions about the campus and sense of
belonging). As the authors state, by identifying
the challenges to academic success for Latina/os,
researchers, practitioners and policymakers can
identify practical approaches to promote Latina/o
student success in higher education settings.
The second section of the book focuses more
on the ways in which higher education institutions,
institutional agents, and programs can better serve
Latina/o college students (Chapters 5–8). Best
practices to support Latina/o student success are
highlighted in Chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 5 presents
“mainstream” approaches to support the educa-
tional success of Students of Color, such as aca-
demic outreach programs, learning communities,
and research mentoring programs to address the
different forms of capital previously mentioned.
These approaches are enhanced with culturally
responsive approaches in Chapter 6. These cultur-
ally responsive approaches are meant to challenge
the often deficit approaches to support Latina/o
students, for example seeing Latina/o families as
an asset and an important source of support for
students rather than a hindrance.
Chapter 6 ends by recognizing that the ap-
proaches presented may not reach all students on
campus, therefore individual institutional agents
become critical to address the need to support
Latina/o students. The authors present the follow-
ing strategies for faculty and staff to better support
Latina/o students: 1) engage in self-reflection “to
explore their own cultural backgrounds and as-
sumptions, how these influence their behaviors
toward Latino students, and what they might do
better to support Latino students,” 2) Learn about
Latina/o student experiences and perspectives and
book reviews 631
“consider ways to be responsive to these experi-
ences and perspectives,” and 3) “take a proactive
stance” in getting to know Latina/o students and
their families to develop open communication
and trust (pp. 77–78). Furthermore, institutional
leaders must institutionalize inclusive campus
climates by changing the organizational culture
through diversity initiatives and policies that better
support Latina/o students. Next, Chapter 7 presents
the role of minority-serving institutions (MSIs),
particularly Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)
to support college access and degree attainment
of Latina/os.
Finally, the book concludes with implica-
tions for research, policy, and practice to support
Latina/o student success (Chapter 8). In terms of
research, Nuñez et al. (2013) call for more culturally
relevant research on factors that promote Latina/o
student success, including a) the role of work and
finances in relation to college choice, enrollment
and persistence, b) teaching and learning in college,
and c) training of future P-12 teachers in preparing
Latina/o students for college. In addition to these
suggestions, I would also add the need for research
on how to train high school and community college
counselors to support college access and transfer
of Latina/o students. The authors further recom-
mend more collaboration among higher educa-
tion researchers and those in other disciplines to
better understand teaching and learning within
disciplines. Again, one area that also could be ad-
dressed is the need for more research collaborations
between faculty-researchers and student affairs
professionals. These researcher-practitioner col-
laborations can address the authors’ call for more
rigorous evaluation of policies and programs that
serve Latina/o students. Additionally, there could
be collaborations between higher education and
foundations like Lumina, research and policy insti-
tutes like the Institute for Higher Education Policy
(IHEP) and Excelencia in Education, membership
and advocacy organizations like the Hispanic As-
sociation of College and Universities (HACU),
scholarship organizations (e.g., Hispanic Scholar-
ship Fund) and community-based organizations.
Related to partnerships, Nunez et al. (2013) also
insist, “State legislators and policymakers can sup-
port institutional, business, and other community
leaders in building P-20 partnerships to foster
academic preparation and to align expectations
for college-level skills across” the various education
sectors (p. 97).
In reference to policy and practice the authors
redirect the attention and responsibility of student
success from students to institutions. “Policies and
practices seeking to promote Latino student success
must [be institutionalized and] be transformed
so that they are grounded in Latinos’ cultural
orientation” rather than mainstream compensa-
tory and additive approaches to foster social,
cultural, academic, and financial capital (p. 94).
These asset-based cultural orientations include: “a)
strong family ties, b) an emphasis on familial and
social relations through respect, trust, and moral
education, c) an emphasis on religious faith and
spirituality, and d) a view of the Spanish language
as a critical part of their heritage” (p. 94). Although
this list of cultural orientations is useful, it runs the
risk of essentializing Latina/os by not discussing
more of the nuances and heterogeneity among
Latina/os here and in Chapter 2. For example,
although a great proportion of Latina/os in the
U.S. speak Spanish (74.0% of those 5 and older),
not all people of Latin American heritage speak
Spanish, such as Brazilians who speak Portuguese
or monolingual English speakers (25.6%) (U.S.
Census Bureau, 2012). This also ignores the large
proportion of Indigenous populations who do not
speak the dominant languages of each Latin Ameri-
can country (Mexico alone has over 62 Indigenous
languages). This fact was driven home to me while
working on a research project on college access and
identity development of Mexican Indigenous high
school students in a rural community in Southern
California; for many of the students, Spanish was
neither a first nor second language. The result was
diminished contact between schools, students,
and parents, which often resulted in curriculum
tracking and severely diminishing the possibility
of college.
Last, the authors call for state legislators, fed-
eral representatives, and policymakers to increase
funding for programs at the state level and federal
funding for HSIs, college preparation programs
(TRIO and Gear Up), and Pell grant and work-
study programs. However, limited research has
examined the impact of these state and federal
programs on educational outcomes. The authors
do state, “Rigorous evaluations of policies and
programs are rare and should be increased to de-
termine which programs, practices, and resources
merit more resources and attention” (p. 95). I
believe using evidence to demonstrate the effective-
ness of federal and state funded programs would
further support the increase of funding towards
those programs. The federal government is shift-
ing towards evidence-based practices and has an
interest in the impact of grant-funded programs on
educational outcomes, which is something I would
have liked to see highlighted more in the chapter on
HSIs. Much of the literature on MSIs has focused
on the educational outcomes of Latina/os at HSIs
as a whole, rather than the programs and services
funded directly by the federal Title V HSI grants.
Given the book’s value in reaching broad audi-
ences and the implications it may have for research
policy and practice, there are three areas of the
book that could be strengthened, two of which
632 The Review of Higher Education
have already been discussed in detail: 1) a more
nuanced understanding of the Latina/o student
population (e.g., the heterogeneity of languages
spoken), 2) more examples of how different sectors
could work together to support Latina/o students
(e.g., researcher-practitioner partnerships), and 3)
the role of community colleges. It is unfortunate
that space did not allow the authors to include a
deeper discussion on the role of community col-
leges since more than half of all Latina/o college
students attend community colleges and over half
of Latina/os attending community colleges are in
need of remediation, making them critical sites for
Latina/o student success (American Association of
Community Colleges [AACC], 2014; Excelencia in
Education, 2015). Community colleges were men-
tioned (mostly in Chapter 1) and in the examples of
programs, but readers would have benefitted from
a deeper discussion about Latina/os at community
colleges, similar to the one in Chapter 7 on HSIs.
Unfortunately, Latina/o students who begin their
postsecondary education at community colleges
are less likely to transfer and earn a bachelor’s
degree than other racial/ethnic student popula-
tions (Fry, 2004). Because of the large enrollment
and low completion rates, especially for under-
represented populations, current federal policy
initiatives such as the College Completion Agenda
are looking towards community colleges as criti-
cal sites for degree completion goals (The White
House, 2014). At the very least, a section in Chapter
7 could have been strictly devoted to Hispanic-
Serving community colleges since nearly half of all
HSIs are community colleges, and they enroll 69
percent of all Latino community college students
(Excelencia in Education, 2015; Hispanic Associa-
tion of Colleges and Universities [HACU], 2014).
Latinos in Higher Education and Hispanic-
Serving Institutions provides a valuable overview of
Latina/os in higher education. I especially liked the
asset-based approach the authors took in present-
ing this student population, for research on Latina/
os often takes a deficit approach (see Valencia, 1997
and Yosso, 2005). Another important contribution
of this book is the focus on the responsibility of
institutional agents (faculty, staff, and administra-
tors) and higher education institutions to better
understand Latina/o college students and to de-
velop culturally responsive policies and practices
to serving students. This book is invaluable for
faculty, researchers, and practitioners interested
studying and working with Latina/o students in
higher education. For researchers, this book serves
as a good overview of the scholarship on Latina/os
in higher education that can be further explored
by reading the literature cited. For higher educa-
tion practitioners this book can serve as a starting
point for understanding the diversity of Latina/os
and the social and cultural factors that may affect
Summer 2015
their educational success. In addition, this book can
be used as a guide for constructing a culturally re-
sponsive campus needs-assessment to learn about
the demography and needs of Latina/o students.
The authors do a particularly good job in present-
ing exemplary programs and services targeting
Latina/o students at various types of institutions.
Institutions can use these examples to tailor or
develop programs and services for Latina/o college
students to serve the needs of their specific student
population and institutional setting.
In conclusion, one of the many strengths of this
book is the contribution, expertise, and past profes-
sional experience of each author- from researchers
to institutional leaders to student support service
professionals at various types of institutions. It
is because of their expertise and contributions
that I think this book succeeded in reaching both
practitioner and researcher audiences.
References
American Association of Community Colleges
(AACC). (2014). 2014 fact sheet. Retrieved
from http://www.aacc.nche.edu/AboutCC/
Documents/Facts14_Data_R3.pdf
Excelencia in Education (2015). The condition of
Latinos in education: 2015 factbook. Washing-
ton, D.C.: Excelencia in Education.
Fry, R. (2004). Latino youth finishing college: The
role of selective pathways. Pew Hispanic Center.
Retrieved from http://www.pewhispanic.org/
files/reports/30.pdf
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universi-
ties (HACU). (2014). Fact sheet: Hispanic
higher education and HSIs 2014. Retrieved
from http://www.hacu.net/images/hacu/
OPAI/2014_CF_Docs/3.%202014%20HSI%20
Fact%20Sheet.062614.pdf
Lumina Foundation for Education. (2013). A
stronger nation through higher education: Vi-
sualizing data to help us achieve a big goal for
college attainment. Retrieved from http://www.
luminafoundation.org/publications/A_stron-
ger_nation_through_higher_education-2013.pdf
Nuñez, A.-M., Hoover, R. E., Pickett, K., Stuart-
Carruthers, A. C., & Vazquez, M. (2013). Latinos
in Higher Education and Hispanic-Serving In-
stitutions. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The White House. (2014). Higher education. Re-
trieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/
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U.S. Census Bureau (2012). Language spoken at
home by ability to speak English for the popu-
lation 5 years and over (Hispanic or Latino).
Universe: Hispanic or Latino population 5
years and over. 2012 American Community
Survey 1-Year Estimates. Retrieved from http://
book reviews 633

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