Higher education is a dream of countless Chicano and Chicana kids. Speaking from personal experience, as a sprouting young student in a predominantly hispanic elementary school, it was engrained in me to pursue higher education. There is room for deviation, but I believe that every immigrant Hispanic parent dreams for their child to go to school and to receive the education they never got the chance to receive. It is a trope that has been seen in movies and television shows, but it is something that is fundamental to the Hispanic experience in America. First off, it is not easy to pursue education at the university level. The curriculum is tough and time consuming. Many view school as a “job” for the youth even. Adding to the difficulty of a taxing education system, Chicana students face additional pressures and challenges that make it even more difficult for them to pursue higher education. Through the Chicana Feminist lens we begin to look critically at what exactly are the challenges …show more content…
Castillo and Robert D. Hill explore how various “stressors” impact the higher education of Chicana college students. The study details how financial restrictions, acculturation, gender role conflicts and pressure to ends college education early all combine to distress the Chicana college student. Not only do Chicana students need to handle to education workload that comes with school, they too must handle the personal workload that comes with all of the stressors. Financial burdens are something that are always present in the lives of many Chicana and Chicano students. You are always dependent on the state to help you, you are always stressing about paying for rent and for paying for groceries. So while you are working on your school work, your mind is also thinking about the next payments you have to make or if your paycheck (if you are a working student) will be enough to cover the rent to your
In Subtractive Schooling: US-Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring, Angela Valenzuela investigates immigrant and Mexican American experiences in education. Valenzuela mentions differences in high schools between U.S born youth and immigrants such as how immigrants she interviewed seemed to achieve in school as they feel privileged to achieve secondary education. However, she found that her study provided evidence of student failure due to schools subtracting resources from these youths. Both are plagued by stereotypes of lacking intellectual and linguistic traits along with the fear of losing their culture. As a Mexican American with many family members who immigrated to the U.S to pursue a higher education, I have experience with Valenzuela’s
Their style and actions were deemed inappropriate because it did not adhere to the school standard of conduct. Thus, they were left on their own, without support or comprehension from the school staff. Because of this belief held by the school personnel, las chicas would be placed on a vocational tracking system. Once placed on this track, las chicas were essentially denied any chance of escaping their current socio-economic class. Las chicas and other hard-living girls were often told that college courses would be too difficult for them. Many of las chicas actually had high grades in their classes, but the grades didn’t matter because the courses they took wouldn’t qualify them for a four-year college. For many, the prospect of college dwindled, and with it, any hope for escaping their class in the future. They would head either to community college or straight to work in low-wage jobs. They were systematically excluded from any chance of improving their
Tara Yosso’s is a motivational, informational book that gives us an insight and awareness of how the Chicana/o students struggles throughout their education in the American society. Critical Race Counterstories Along the Chicana/Chicano Educational Pipeline, portrays how Latino students have been marginalized in the educational system. Yosso addresses the problems that might be hindering students of color to drop out of school to continue to higher education. She does this research by analyzing various situations that still happen in the K-12 educational system, as in high school, and higher education. Yosso also addresses counterstories to better understand the experiences and struggles Chicanas/os go through in their schooling. Counterstories are important to be able to know what Chicanas/os struggles go through. Also tells about the outcomes that Chicanas/os have overcome when they are in a situation were they ate being underrepresented and how they have been dealing with these unequal educational opportunities. Her book addresses, awareness of how the Chicana/o culture is being underrepresented in the American educational system. It gives an understanding of why the Chicana/o students are leaking out of the educational pipeline. It also shows the obstacles this Latino students have to face to be able to make it through the educational pipeline. Chicana/o students want to continue to higher education they have to transform the educational system and acknowledge this culture to be successful instead of setting them to failure. Furthermore, this critique will analyze the strengths and the weaknesses of Tara Y...
The authors mention Miguel Fernandez, a fresh graduate from a small high school who has had struggles that have affected his opportunities to go off to college. These struggles include financial hardships and also that Miguel “was undocumented and in the country illegally” (Noguera and Kundu par.8). Though Miguel
1. According to Pizarro, “Chicanas and Chicanos face the highest dropout rates of any major ethnic group in the United States- as many as half of a given cohort of Chicana and Chicano students does not complete high school- and their relative educational outcomes have been stable or have worsened over time.” (Pizarro, 1).
The goal of this research is to find out why the immigrant students have to face more challenges in the level of education they achieve, the high level poverty that they face in their daily lives and all the confusing networks they have around them which they have no clue of how to utilize it. Also, the research focusses on the fewer resources immigrant students have while achieving their goals. The research question is important as it does affect all immigrant students and their respective families and not limited just to the immigrant. I am sure many families move to a different country to achieve better education and to make a brighter future for themselves and their loved ones. These families come with so much hope and faith, but in return they are bombarded with so much confusing information that it’s very easy for them to get lost and give up. At last, children are the future and if from being they don’t have the correct resources then how will they achieve their goals.
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.
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.
The current trend in lack of Latina/o students attending college combines a lack of college readiness with a deficiency in resources to prepare this student population. More and more higher education scholars are accepting these deficiencies as roadblocks to college access, and are looking to preparation programs and parent educational resources as a subject worthy of consideration. There are many different challenges being faced by this population, a population that is according to Oliva and Nora, “the fastest growing minority population in the country”(Oliva & Nora, 2004). Research shows that “less than 43% of Hispanic high school students are qualified to enroll in 4 year institutions”(Saunders & Serna, 2004). With the rapid growth in population, this minority group needs advocacy for equal opportunities in higher learning now more than ever.
Education is the key to individual opportunity, the strength of our economy, and the vitality of our democracy. In the 21st century, this nation cannot afford to leave anyone behind. While the academic achievement and educational attainment of Hispanic Americans has been moving in the right direction, untenable gaps still exist between Hispanic students and their counterparts in the areas of early childhood education, learning English, academic achievement, and high school and college completion.
Salinas, C. (2004). "Creating Successful Academic Programs for Chicana/o High School Migrant Students: The Role of Advocate Educators." The High School Journal 87(4): 54-65.
The topic that I am going to explore with you is that of educational opportunities and lack of educational opportunities for female immigrants and their children during the early 20th century, late 20th century, current struggles and my daughters personal experience with educational opportunities. At the end of this paper I hope to have helped you gain a better awareness of the educational challenges these women and children dealt with, what students are still dealing with today, and a personal struggle with education.
My object of study is Hispanic women experience inequality in education due to the social constructs of subordination of women and Hispanic culture. Historically women have been conditioned with a patriarchal system, which a woman’s domain should be at home, to be a homemaker. The ideology of inferiority can and will justify the deprivation of natural born rights. During the progressive area and women’s rights movement women wanted to be seen as people, they wanted to have rights to own property, negotiate wages, legal documents, access to birth control, and the right to vote, those women who had the voice to deal with these issues were white upper and middle class women. During this time Hispanic women, amongst other minorities, were fighting battles against racism, segregation, exploitation in the work force, access to a good education, and oppression through Hispanic culture. It is not just a struggle to be Hispanic overcoming the inequalities within the education system but to be a Hispanic women within the education system has greater disadvantages. This case study will investigate what forces contribute to the inequality within the education system for Hispanic women in the United States.
I want to become a pediatric doctor because I enjoy seeing children healthy and happy. I know that college will not be easy and not to mention medical school, but I am determined to make it. And I know that I will because I am the proud daughter of two undocumented parents that risked everything to give my sisters and me a better future. However, my parents are no different from other parents living within our Hispanic community. Many of these parents want to see their children go to college and make the best out of their future. I am not a parent, but I am a member of our community, and I want to see more Hispanic students in college. I also want to be able to interact with my Hispanic community and stress the importance of a higher education. The number of Hispanic students in college is not as high enough, but I have no doubt that we can change that. I want to be able to educate my community that with good grades, high scores, and determination anyone can go to college, without the worry about the expense. We are Hispanic, which means that we are strong, brilliant, risk takers, humble, but most importantly, hard working, and because we have all those qualities and much more, I am certain that we can do anything and everything that we set our minds
Stress is defined in the dictionary as “state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life”. Everyone encounters stress in their life caused by many different variables in life and we all cope with in different ways. The way one copes with the stress is how it can affect our body. Some take to working out, eating healthy, take breaks from what is stressing you out and getting plenty of sleep which are good ways to cope with it. Some take to other coping mechanisms that are not very great for the body. Some examples are stress eating, abuse of drugs and alcohol, bottling up the stress, and depression. These bad methods can cause serious damage to one’s health on the body.