Major
Political Science
Advisor
Johnson, Kristin
Advisor Department
Political Science
Date
5-2012
Keywords
barriers to education; Hispanic Female; Latina
Abstract
Patterns of attendance in higher education in America as a whole have increased. Increasingly, people are finding that they need a college or technical degree to achieve financial stability and success. This holds true for subsets of the population who were traditionally excluded from higher education, such as females and minorities. However, though the population as a whole is increasing their patterns of attendance in higher education, there is one group notably left behind. Patterns of higher education for female Hispanics or Latinas are the exception to the rule that attendance is improving for the entire population. Latinas are affected by an intersection of many different cultural, social, and economic barriers that prevent them from achieving the same rates of attendance in higher education as their Caucasian or African-American counterparts. In order to identify some of the barriers that Latinas in Rhode Island faced specifically, an online survey instrument was created and disseminated to individuals throughout Rhode Island. The survey focuses on identification of barriers to educational attainment unique to Latinas. Based on the survey results, an online information portal is being created to disseminate information to Latinas wishing to pursue a higher education.
Keywords: higher education, barriers, Latinas