Latino Drop-Out Rate Jocelyn Serrano, Jenny Morales, Bena Wu Chicano Studies 2 Moctezuma 7/12/15 Bena Wu was raised in Monterey Park, California. With an ethnic background of Chinese, Hainanese, and Cambodian, she is her parents’ first child. Growing up with two sisters and one brother, she has volunteered for many organizations, including Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, Classical KUSC Radio Station, and Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. Jenny Morales was born on March 16, 1996 in Los Angeles, California. She is the youngest of three children and the only girl. She is a very positive, person who has many goals and hopes to fulfill them one day. She also likes to shop a lot, whether it is going to the mall or doing it online. …show more content…
Jenny also loves Disneyland and the beach, and enjoys trying new things. She attends East Los Angeles Community College, and hopes to transfer to either Cal State University Long Beach or Northridge. She loves kids and finds them very interesting; because their mind is so innocent that they have a positive point of view to everything. Her major is child development and hopes to become a teacher one day. Hello, my name is Jocelyn Serrano and I am attending UC Santa Barbara at the moment. I love to go hiking and adventure off into nature and just admire the beauty of it. I also love going to the beach to swim, surf, or just lie on the sand because it is really relaxing for me and gives me a sense of peace after a long day. I have a huge family with over 14 aunts and uncles and about 40 or more cousins in total, our family reunions get crazy with people because there are just so many but it is really fun to have such a big family. I also have 8 pets which includes 5 dogs, 2 cats, and a guinea pig names Popeye. Our backyard is like a little farm with so many animals but I love them all since I’ve had most of them as a child. On another note, I am a very funny and sarcastic person which some people don’t usually catch on with but I think it sets me apart from others. In 2000, Hispanics of the ages of 18-24 had the highest dropout rate of 32%.
Still today, we are considered the highest dropout rate; except that in 2013, the dropout rate decreased by 18%. Not only has the rate decreased but more Hispanic students are attending college and graduating from high school. Although they are more Hispanics attending college, the percentage of Hispanics that graduate from high school has also improved, it is 79% now. It has increased by 18% of students that graduate. Even though Hispanics are now attending school more, they still hold the highest dropout rate than any other ethnic group. However, Hispanics also has a gender role with the highest dropout rates; can you guess what gender has the highest dropout rate? If you said men, then you are incorrect. Actually women have a higher dropout rate than men. Women are also known to be less likely to graduate from college and earn a college degree because most women dropout before even being able to graduate high school. Women drop out for several of reasons, whether they get pregnant, have personal issues, are gang related, or have financial issues at home. Census Bureau statistics has shown that women of the ages of 16-24 dropout rate is 30% and only 10% of those women complete four or more years of college. It is a low percentage of women who attend college and …show more content…
graduate. Although men do not have a higher dropout rate than women, it does not mean that there aren’t quite a few men who drop out from school. Men just like women, also have reasons to why they dropout and some have the same reasons as women to why they dropout. Sometimes men dropout because of money problems, teen pregnancy, joins a gang or something else. Both gender roles make choices to dropping out from school or not. Also many Latinas face a lot of pressure from their boyfriends, fiancés or husbands who expect them to stay home. As we all know, being raised in a Hispanic family as a women is tough. Hispanic women are raised to become house wives. Sometimes they are even criticize or made fun of when they try to become educated women. During their childhood, women are already being taught how to become a house wife; they are shown how to keep a house clean, how to cook, how to wash and so much more. Sometimes, some families don’t see the point of their daughters going to school because they want them to work and help around and eventually she will marry. Latinas also have the highest teen pregnancy rate of 25.5% and these girls are from the ages of 14-17. Also, girls of the ages of 14-17 are more likely to drop out of high school and not go to college than those of the ages of 18 and 19. They dropout because they get pregnant at a young age and decide that school can either wait or they do not bother going back. Another reason why is because they decide to work to care of their child. Not only that but there are some cases than the father abandons the child before he/she is born, therefore leaving the mother to look for a job and leave school so they can be the provider. Teen pregnancy does not only affect them and their education, it also affects men; because there are men who are responsible of their actions and drop out so they can help provide for the child. Teen pregnancy is not the only reason for women and men to drop out of school.
There are also financial issues that they can face as well. Both men and women believe that they need to dropout because of financial issues. Some women are forced to drop out because their family is not making enough money to pay off household expenses. This also goes to men as well. Both men and women try to find a job, so that they can help around the house. Men have always been seen as the providers in a Hispanic home. Men are the ones who usually go to work because they feel that they need to help around a lot more than women. Many men and women go out of their way to help out, whether it is selling flowers, food, washing cars, etc. They work hard and do the impossible to help out their families and make a couple of more dollars to provide for everyone. They have to make sacrifices in order to help their families’ needs first. Even though there are financial reasons that men and women drop out from school, there are other reason as well to why they do it. Sometimes, they hang out with the wrong crowd of friends and make poor choices. They decide to join gangs and leave school because they decide that being in a gang is more important. They begin to act, dress, and do different things. They start stealing because they find it a lot easier to d and they get things
fast. Although gangs, teen pregnancy, and financial issues are problems that men and women face that cause them to drop out from school; some do not like school or do bad in school that they think that dropping out from school is a better option. A lot of students drop out because they think that they are not made for school or in other words are not, “school material”. They have a negative attitude towards it that they do bad and end up dropping out. There are also those men and women who rather work than go to school. The reason why is because they think that having a job and getting paid is more important than going to school and learning. Although Hispanics have the highest dropout rate, it has decreased over the years. Hispanics are still considered the ethnic group with the highest dropout rate but it has improved and more men and women are going to school and graduating. The percentage is still high but the fact that there are more Hispanics going to school is a good thing as well. It is still a bigger difference than before. Just like every other ethnic group, Hispanics have their reasons to why they have dropped out of school. Some have a better reason than others but it is one is choice and decision as well. Hispanic students in the United States may refer to themselves as “Hispanic,” “Latino,” or an ethnic variation of their parents’ country of origin, or they may simply refer to themselves as “American (Between Two Worlds 3).” Even as U.S.-born natives, they are more likely to identify by their family origin instead of American (Between 3). When the children of Latino immigrants enter school, they account for approximately 20% of students in the United States (Between 1). The Latino youth make up a notable size of the youth population in the United States; therefore, they are of significance when studying sociology. According to the Pew Hispanic Center telephone survey, young Latinos are very satisfied with life, optimistic about their futures, and place very high values on education and success. They are more, however, more likely than students of other ethnicities to drop out of high school, become exposed to gangs, and live in poverty (Between 1). Since 1965, half of all United States immigrants are from Latin America, making Latin Americans the largest immigrant group to come to the US compared to the other ethnicities (Between 1). Most Latino youths are not immigrants. In fact, about two out of three were born in the United States (1). When comparing Latino immigrant students with United States-born Latino students, U.S.-native Latino students have lower high-school dropout rates than Latino immigrants. Approximately 33% of first-generation Latino students drop out of high school (Between 1). The dropout percentage decreases to a low 9% for second-generation U.S.-born Latino students. Surprisingly, third-generation Latino students hold the highest dropout percentage, 12%, which remains lower than the 33% dropout rate of Latino immigrants in total. This is due to second generation Latinos being more exposed to the English language and quicker assimilation to the American culture (1). Even though the numbers of high school enrollment for all ethnicities are high, Hispanics have the lowest percentage rate compared to the other ethnicities. For full time enrollment, 96.1% of Hispanics are enrolled, compared to 98.2% of whites, 97.9% of African Americans, and 99% of Asians (Between 6). High school completion rates are lower in Latinos born in their native countries than Latinos born in the United States (6). Native-born Latino youths age 18-24 accounts for 60.3% of high school completion, compared to second-generation Latino youths, who account for 89.1% of high school completion (6). One of the main reasons Latinos cut their education completion short is because of stress to financially support their family (Between 6). Approximately 3 out of 4 Latino youths who cut their education short during or after high school said they did so because of that reason (6). The foreign-born Latinos are more likely to need to support their family than the American-born Latinos. Latinos are the fastest growing population of students in the United States. This means that the issue of Latinos dropping out has been more and more recognized because they are the majority of a minority. Many of these students live in concentrated areas of poverty located in urban areas. This causes many people and families to live below the poverty level. “On average roughly two-thirds of students in the country’s largest 10 school districts are low-income, compared with about half of the students nationwide.” (Wong) This shows that the poorer a city is the more dropouts there will be. Many of the Latino students are dealing with working and many are barely trying to learn English as a second language. School funding and poverty is at fault here because they don’t allow children the same opportunities that those at funded schools have. There are many disadvantages with living a poor life and limits the life changes that can occur. The economic status of a child and their family can tell the future of whether they will graduate or not because money does make a difference. Therefore, schools that have many of these low income students, have less difficult classes that prepare them for college. Many students don’t take advantage of more challenging courses like AP because they lack motivation. As one student said “They have lower expectations, they get lost in these urban districts, and then—because they’re never identified and pushed to try more challenging courses—they have less interest in school, get bored, get distracted, drop out,” Ingram said hypothetically. “That could be part of the reason.” (Wong) This shows that the schools themselves are not helping their students succeed. Even as the principal of South Gate High School, German Cerda mentioned that his school (with over 97% Latino students) has really low funding and their programs aren’t giving access for students to succeed. He is implementing his own programs which have successfully raised the graduation to 93.5%, highest in the district. He compares his school with that of a poorer area like Watts and mentions how their systems are even worse, 50% graduation rate. The school system is supposed to push students to attend college but the resources just aren’t there. The quality of education begins at a young age, from elementary to high school education. And so, it is all about ow much money is invested into these kids. Cerda also mentions how parent involvement is key in the student’s lives because if they value education, so will the students themselves therefore making them encouraged to succeed. But many parents have other priorities like taking care of the family and working up to two jobs. Therefore, the more funding the better since it has been notable that students in schools with better systems and funding do better than those that don’t like in the crowded urban areas full of poverty.
In the article “The Latino Education Crisis” by Patricia Gandara who talked about how the rate of Latinos that are educated and graduates from school are so low and how they have low income because most of their parents are not educated and he also stated some solutions that can help like starting an early childhood education to help the student to have more educational interest and so many more. I agree with the author that Latino are facing allot of educational crisis because most of them are less educated, they have less income in their families because parents don’t have enough money to send their children to schools and because the parents lack education. I believe that there are solutions like focusing on early education
Latino grassroots politics in the academic realm has been considered as predominantly Chicano in nature. However, the geometry of this academic sector is no longer one dimensional, due to the formation of a Chicana feminist consciousness; the rise of an identified gay community within the Chicana/o student populace; and the emergence of “Latinos” in era of Chicanismo, The abrupt growth of Latinos (e.g. Spanish speaking of Mexican, Central or Latin American decent) in the United State’s educational system led the general population to characterize them as subjects on the cusps of political power and influence. But this widespread depiction of Latinos as an untapped potential is intrinsically linked to an impression of civic cohesion within the Latino student population. Although there is a correspondence between these parties in terms of the alienation they have felt and the discrimination they have endured throughout their academic careers, there is a minimal collective effort in confronting against their oppressive status. This is mainly a result of conflicting ideologies and social agendas within the Latino student community, as well as the relegation of Hispanic subgroups into the lower echelons. Latino students, nevertheless, have demonstrated their capacity, when both Chicanos and the marginalized Hispanic subgroups join efforts to reach a communal objective. This debunks the historical notion that Chicano students are the only group of Hispanics in the academic sphere that have been actively challenging the processes of social exclusion, and also displays the capacity of a collaborative effort.
There are many different reasons why students decide to drop out of school, according to Stats Canada “Young men continue to have higher dropout rates then young women. In 2009/2010, 10.3% of young men and 6.6% of young women had dropped out of high school.” (Gilmore, 2010) Men have a higher rate of dropping out of school because they tend to want to work and make money rather than getting their education. Men are better known to not be that involved in school as much as women would and if they have the opportunities to have a job without their education they would opt to do that instead of staying in school because they would rather be making money then getting their education. They may feel that work is more of a priority and that making money is more important. Young women have different reasons than young men to why they may opt to drop out of school. “Young women were more likely to drop out because of personal or family reasons, such as pregnancy or having a young child at home.” (Gilmore, 2010)
Students were grouped by IQ, those who had an above average or higher were helped to go to college and those who had a low IQ’s were not given the support or the push needed to get them into college. Educators allowed low education standards and refused to see students as equals. The advisors set students sights low for the future by encouraging how service jobs were a practical choice for us Mexicans. Cleaning houses were the normal thing to do for Mexican-American females. Students were tired of the inadequate staff and the staff's lack of concern for their students. The students sent out a survey among the other students to see if they were satisfied with what they were getting from their education. The result was that the schools and instructors were not meeting the needs of the students’ more so of the Chicano students.
Unfortunately, when you evaluate Hispanic women most likely they did not go to college, or even graduate high school. There may be many factors that determine their circumstance. For instance, they get pregnant and drop out. There may be a lack of motivation to go to school. They might get married at an early age. Even the nature of the culture may play a role, like making it seem it is okay not to go to college or finish high school. Or sometimes they may not have a role model to encourage them to do better. All these factors may be the cause of this circumstance, but it doesn’t have to always be the excuse. As a high school senior, I have noticed more and more pregnant girls; most of them Hispanic. Many of thes...
Stern, G. M. (2009). The 'Secondary'. Why Latino students are failing to attend college. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, 75(1), 46-49. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
As the fastest growing racial or ethnic group in America's public schools, Hispanic students have the unique potential to positively affect the economic and cultural future of the United States. Ensuring the promise of this diverse group of learners requires the attention and commitment of the entire country. We must work harder to close the educational achievement gaps between Hispanic students and the nation as a whole. This must begin with high expectations for achievement, clear goals for what must be accomplished, and specific benchmarks to measure our progress.
The importance put on education often comes from parental involvement. Many Latinos come to this country in hopes of giving the opportunity to their children to have more open more doors to success while enjoying freedom. The freedom that some possibly do not have at home. “A number of factors contribute to the translation of a family’s social capital to schools capital, including parental income and educational attainment, English language proficiency (ELP), parental beliefs and educational aspirations for their children, and parental involvement in schools (Zambrana 62).” The need to aspire is an individual motivation, however the family structure has much to do with the ambitions. The Latino community according to the book Latinos in American Society written by Ruth Zambrana ran a study on the Average SAT Scores for Twelfth Grade Test-Taking Population, by Race and Latino Subgroup, 1996-2006. In this study, it was found that the second-generation students that are of college-educated Latino families contributed the most to the rise in the total Latino student
This is obvious to just about everyone in the United States. As a Hispanic woman living in the U.S., it has come to my attention that along with being the fastest growing culture, we are also the culture with some of the highest high school dropout rates. This has become a major problem in our country and more predominately in states such as California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is crucial now more than ever that as the Hispanic population increases in the United States we educate the children growing up in our country. However, as stated before, it is apparent that Hispanics have had the greatest numbers of high school dropouts.
Latina women are suppressed through Hispanic culture with the ideology that a woman’s domain is within the walls of her own home. However, there has been a greater turnover rates in high school graduates amongst Latinas they are still falling behind due to lack of resources and the restricted patterns of opportunity perpetuated through transformative assets.
White, black, Mexican, Asian; no matter what the ethnicity, students will drop out of school. Yet when the term dropout is mentioned, Hispanic often comes to mind. Why is this? Schools all over the United States are affected by the Hispanic school dropouts. Many questions need to be answered on this topic: What is a dropout? What is causing these students to dropout? How many are actually dropping out? What is the future like for the dropouts? And what can be done to help lower the dropout rate?
The rate at which women are graduating college today has taken a dramatic turn. Nowadays, researches show that women enroll more in college and their graduation rate is far higher compared to males. Women aspire to go to college more than males starting from middle school. Not only do they aspire, they work towards their goals. Research suggests that male students are not putting in the effort and are not getting engaged in things that will help them get in college and graduate. Women are more like the primary caregiver of a child in the house. They want to be role models to their children and will put in much effort to make it a reality. They understand the long term value of education, compared to most males who just want fast jobs to put money on the table.
Because of adolescence, they may think that school is “nothing”, it is just a waste of time. Also, facts have been saying that more and more students are being independent related to the school. A good reason that they are independent is that they want to have their own money. However, when we don’t know how to say no and face whatever problems may cause, we often use to drop out of college to avoid difficulties.
Family issues, poverty, and homelessness cause students to drop out of high school as it impacts education by placing stressful obstacles in children’s learning path. A National study found, “Overall, 22 percent of children who have lived in poverty do not graduate from high school, compared to 6 percent of those who have never been poor” (National Study). Lack of educational success can also contribute to throwing in the towel on school. Some students may not be receiving the additional supports to give them success in school. Imagine coming home on the bus after a ten hour day and having your ninth grader ask for help on their algebra. If you possessed the skills, which you likely do not, you may be too exhausted to help. In addition there is still dinner to cook and other household chores to complete. It is a daunting request that you may not be able to comply with. “Family poverty is associated with a number of adverse conditions — high mobility and homelessness; hunger and food insecurity; parents who are in jail or absent; domestic violence; drug abuse and other problem…” (Shonkoff & Garner, 2012 as quoted by Rumberger). Poverty is an obstacle to learning even for the brightest children. As a result few can overcome these stumbling
First important reason why students drop out school is tuition expenses. In high schools and lower education, most of schools are funded by government, so parents does not much their budget for their children. In higher education, however, parents have to pay tuition. That is a painful problem for poor family. In poor families, they have low salary. Every single dollar is worth for them to survive such as homeless. They better have money for food than go to university because fo...