Abstract
Higher education is a way to be able to reach the American Dream and help pursue a professional career. The American Dream is a common ideology in the Latino community. Low wage labor in the United States was a way to obtain that American Dream. Today, further generations, immigrant, and nonimmigrant Latinos continue to live the American Dream. A way to reach this goal may be through higher education, which in many cases opens doors of opportunities to better individuals’ futures. Education is almost a necessity in the United States, especially to help climb the social ladder. The family may have a large impact on how education is viewed and valued depending on the different values and traditions of that family. As a result, the family may impact decisions made about higher education. Education and the family are two basic components to an individual’s life in the United States, just like in many other countries. Education serves individuals as a way to obtain social mobility and a way to improve their social location. This may be noticed in the skills gained through higher education that may lead to professional careers. In the United States, diverse skills and knowledge may be differentially valued. The skills and knowledge that are highly valued in our society may be gained by obtaining a college education. Higher education reaps social and financial rewards to individuals. As a result, decisions to obtain a higher education or not have strong linkages to later social outcomes. The family serves individuals by helping shape their personality, goals, and dreams through values and traditions. Values and traditions learned from the family may help mold individuals’ decisions regarding their future plans. Different roles of who we are and what we are supposed to be are learned primarily from the family. Similar to education, family is able to structure our future, sharing values and traditions that are differently regarded by society. These values and traditions may guide some individuals towards obtaining a higher education while they may also lead others down a different path. The current research focuses on adolescent Latinasand their experiences in their families and educational experiences. The purpose of this research is not to make a racial or color distinction; most minorities are often part of the lower socioeconomic status, which may entail that they share similar values and traditions. Families’ values and traditions may be similar; the different roles played in the home and by friends may also be similar. It is a possibility that Latino values and traditions are a reflection of social class location. It is also a possibility that these values and traditions may be specific to their culture as Latinos. It is this second possibility that I wish to explore. Research in the past (Gloria, Castellanos and Orozco 2005; Aleman and Aleman 2010; Coleman, Ganong, and Rothraugg 2007; LeCroy and Krysik 2009) has focused on values and traditions that Latino/as may share and the barriers that some Latino/as encounter to obtain a higher education. To better understand the Latina experience in higher education, I instead focus on the particular values, practices, and policies that may be affecting specifically Latina students on obtaining a higher education. Emphasis will also be placed on the avenues of opportunities young Latinas encounter to obtain a higher education. In this paper I concentrate on two main research questions. First, How do family values and traditions affect eighteen to nineteen year old Latinas’ decision-making process of going or not going to college?, and second, How does the school as an institution affect Latinas’ decision-making process of college enrollment? Theoretical frameworks of Cultural and Social Capital, Symbolic Interactionism, and Critical Race Theory will be used to better understand the data and results as I explore these research questions. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies will be employed in this study. Secondary data from the Education Longitudinal Study, 2002, and one on one interviews conducted with to fully explore the experiences of young Latina women with their families and schools as they make this decision about higher education. The interviews will help gain an insight on how family college enrollment of young Latinas. Latinas may rely on their families for support on making decisions that may affect their future.