Literature Review - Increasing the retention and graduation rate of Latino college students - Essay Example

This trend has conventionally flared up many issues of equity and race because of a resulting decrease in the economic prosperity and social status of Latino minority in America in comparison to the White majority. After a steady decline in college participation of Latino students between 1970s and early years of the decade from 1980 to 1990, the percentage of their college attendance has increased. However, this increase in college attendance of Latino students is accompanied with an increase in the stratification of institutions.

According to Karen (1991 cited in Thomas, 1998, p.1), a vast majority of the Latino students joined the institutions which would generate least socioeconomic returns. After completion of high school studies, most Latino students seek admission in two-year colleges unlike their White peers, who go for a four-year enrollment in college. Lack of provision of high quality education to students from such minorities as Latinos ruins their future and they lag behind others financially (Lynch and Engle, 2010).

The increase in population of Latino students in American colleges that has occurred in the recent years has exposed the university personnel to numerous types of challenges that revolve around the factors affecting the retention of these students. Within the Latino community, there exist a lot of differences in the ability to obtain education. According to Creighton (n.d.), these factors can be divided into four types. These four types are personal factors, involvement factors, environmental factors and the socio-cultural factors (Creighton, n.d.).

These factors are discussed below: Personal factors include pre-college characteristics or background variables that vary from one student to another. Personal factors give explanation for the patterns of students’ adjustment in college. These factors include but are not limited to scores in tests, grade point average (GPA), the students’ academic self concept, availability of finances and support from the family. The traditional measurements of a student’s academic performance have long remained the criterion for admission into college.

Such scales include the student’s GPA in high school studies and the score he/she gains in the college entry test. The level to which a student would be successful in the college is estimated on the basis of his/her performance in high school. According to Lesure-Lester (2003), “there is evidence that indicates test scores may not predict early college grades for Hispanic students as well as it does for White students” (Creighton, n.d.). The involvement of students in the campus community has a positive impact on their ability to learn.

Involvement factors include the interaction of students with mentors, role of teachers, and their participation in the activities of students. The Environmental theory offers explanation for the association of a student with the environment in campus. Behavior of a student is heavily influenced by the environment of the institution. In a vast majority of cases, students tend to be discouraged because of the existence of oppressive factors in the environment. Such factors include racism, bullying, teasing and threatening.

As Latino students form a minority in the US, they are prone to receiving racism by their peers