The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore how first-year, first-generation minority college students at a large university in North Texas perceived the influence of student support services, student academic services, and social networks on their academic success. Three research questions guided this study: RQ1: How do…

To date, whites are three-fifths of the overall U.S. population and are declining in proportion to people of color. Currently, Latinxs are 18% of the total population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019), and that percentage is projected to increase with the next census count. Correlatively, then, the shift of predominantly white institutions (PWIs) into…

This thesis is intended to delve into the one-and-a-half generation of Cuban-American's bicultural identity in Virgil Suarez's novel "Going Under." Through an interpretation from the perspective of diaspora consciousness, this paper will identify how the main character constructs his individual identity through a network of usually…

Numerous national reports have identified the importance of significantly improving pathways that begin with Latinx students enrolling in 2-year institutions and ultimately completing baccalaureate degrees in STEM fields at 4-year institutions. Many programs using multiple interventions have been designed, implemented, and studied to achieve this…

This paper explores undocumented adolescent Latina becomings that move beyond Western, white dominant cultural values and recognize egalitarian entanglements of difference. I begin by recognizing my positionality in this work that speaks to my own feminist theoretical entanglements of this project that draw upon new materialist and…

With increasing interest in factors related to positive development and the growing U.S. Spanish-speaking population, there is a growing need to provide validity evidence for instruments in Spanish with Latinx populations. This study reported psychometric properties of U.S.-Spanish versions of the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS; Smith et al. 2008)…

This study examined how a special wellness course affects perception of meaning-in-life and state-trait anxiety of Hispanic counselor trainees. A quantitative analysis showed an increase in participants' perception of meaning-in-life and a concurrent decrease in anxiety. Participants' self-reports revealed how their perception of meaning-in-life…

This study sought to investigate the association between nativity status and Hispanic young women's formal sex education and parental sex education in the USA. We used data from a cross-sectional sample of 310 Hispanic young women aged 18-24 years old from the 2013-2015 US National Survey of Family Growth. We assessed 11 outcomes: four formal sex…

Previous research suggests that Latinas face a host of obstacles that may impair their ability to enter leadership positions and motivate them to pursue non-leadership positions. Culturally, Latinas tend to be expected to fulfill domestic duties, eschewing opportunities to advance in their careers into leadership positions. There is also evidence…

This research project sought to collectively study the identity and linguistic attitudes of Afro-Latinos in the diaspora and in the homeland. The diaspora being the United States and the homeland being Latin America and Bogota, Colombia. This study employs Tabouret-Keller's (1998) concepts on language as acts of identity and Toribio's (2006) model…

In response to the "Trump Effect", or the negative climate in education following President Trump's election, we examine the ways in which anti-immigration rhetoric from the recent election cycle and the elimination of DACA has influenced college experiences and trajectories of undocumented Latinx students. Using critical race theory,…

Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) should realign their organizational approach in order to liberate themselves and their students. As colonized institutions enrolling colonized people, HSIs must recognize their history of colonialism before moving toward an organizational model grounded in decolonization. "The Organizational Framework for…

This dissertation is centered on further understanding the warehousing hypothesis. This is a phenomenon where college enrollment patterns across the U.S. are driven by labor market conditions. The interrelated nature of individual and structural level processes motivates the fundamental question driving my research: how do race and ethnicity,…

Gloria Azaldua (1987), describes the U.S. Mexico border (La Frontera ) as an "open wound where the Third World grates against the First World and bleeds"(p. 3). This research is grounded in the truth of my own lived experience with border violence in La Frontera. Border violence in La Frontera is discussed in this research through four…

The purpose of this study was to investigate if the participation of Hispanic parents of English Language Learners in school activities influence their children's education. This was done by deliberately taking steps to recruit parents to participate in their child's academics and school affairs. The data that was used to test if involvement of…