The Number of Latino Students Attending Community Colleges Is on the Rise in the U

P AERA-1111-18291

robationary LatinoCommunity College Students:

How Motivation, Readiness, and
Mitigating Factors Affect their Success in College

Abstract:

The number of Latino students attending community colleges is on the rise in the U.S. Lack of academic preparation and financial resources, as well as family obligations often require they attend these institutions, which are typically more flexible to their diverse needs than four-year institutions. Accordingly, their successful transition into college may be difficult and the likelihood of experiencing academic difficulties is great. Thus, the need for relevant and timely intrusive student support services is critical. This study sought to identify non-cognitive distinguishing characteristics between Latinos and students of other ethnicities. Results suggest that Latinos are more likely to experience academic difficulties, more prone to drop out, yet are more receptive to institutional assistance. The role of counseling interventions and advocacy will also be discussed.

Objectives:

• To assess probationary community college students’ differences in background characteristics and non-cognitive variables (i.e., academic motivation, readiness and commitment for college, coping mechanisms, and receptivity to support services as measured by Stratil’s (1988) College Student Inventory) and their impact on success indicators (i.e., GPA, retention, persistence).
• To assess differences between Latino and students of other ethnic groups on these non-cognitive variables.
• To assess gender differences on these non-cognitive variables.
• To discuss the relevance of intrusive/developmental advisement and its differential effects on students of diverse backgrounds.

Theoretical Framework:

The concepts of “social integration” (Tinto, 1993) and “student involvement” (Astin, 1993) have often been used to explain the requirements for success in college. However, these theories do not sufficiently explain the experiences of many minority, first-generation college students (Tierney, 1992; Tierney & Hagedorn, 2002). To connect with these students’ actual situation, we applied a transition model that considered these freshmen on a more individual basis, and, in particular, the special needs that arise in adapting to college life. As predominantly first-generation college students, minorities must often struggle to balance academic and family responsibilities. They must learn to exist in two worlds concurrently, and need to develop the skills to effectively transition between them without becoming lost in the process, in order to succeed in college.

Schlossberg’s individual transition theory (e.g., Schlossberg, Waters, & Goodman, 1995), directly applies to this population. The authors examined how transitions are approached and found that the potential resources [ET1]and the transition process itself was highly individual. The transition process consists of three stages: moving in, moving through, and moving on. Students on probation—especially if for the first time—may be in any one of these three stages. The model considers how[ET2] an individual’s assets and liabilities may affect one’s situation, support, self, and a set of strategies that are known within this framework as the “4 S’s.” Because this model includes “both events and ‘non-events’ that result[s] in changed relationships, routines, assumptions, and roles” (Schlossberg, et al, 1995, p. 27), it fits well with new college students as well as those in transition, such as entering probationary status. Some see these types of transitions as crises—or, as in the Chinese symbol—Wei-ji which translates as "dangerous opportunity". This is a recognition that in every crisis there is the opportunity to emerge with positive outcomes or advantage (Stevens & Ellerbrock, 1995).

For those students who do not wish to embrace opportunity, or do not know how, probationary status may overwhelm them; the outcome will be greater loss and higher likelihood of transitioning completely out of the community college setting. In particular, bicultural students who commute back and forth to school up to two hours daily, continually must balance between academic and home cultures which may not place value in higher education. Hence there is an even greater need for support from community college professionals during this transition so that the student has maximal access to a successful and personally meaningful educational experience.

Additionally, students are less likely to succeed in college unless they are properly motivated to do so. Hirsch’s multiple intervention model for helping students in academic difficulty(2001) directly addresses counseling strategies for identifying motivational ‘flashpoints’ to act on students’ behalf. Academic uncertainty may present a true transition point for students on probation, especially those who have recently become aware of their probationary status. This moment of crisis may present a flashpoint at which a student may choose to actively move toward taking personal responsibility for their own academic outcomes. Support for implementing new learning strategies at such a turning point may make the difference between future success or failure.

Methods:

The sample for this study consisted of college students experiencing academic difficulties, namely those on academic probation after their first semester of attendance at a large, urban, ethnically diverse community college in Southern California. Concerned with the growing number of probationary students attending this college and by the disproportionate number of Latino students on probation, Proposal Authors (2003) conceptualized and pilot tested an innovative probationary student “re-orientation” to which 1,113 students were invited to participate. Of these students, 325 (29%), voluntarily attended and completed the re-orientation with 315 (97%) providing informed consent to participate in the study.

Of the final pool of participants, 166 (53%) were female and 149 (47%) male. Additionally, 122 (39%) were Latino, 57 (18%) White, 51 (16%) Other, 44 (14%) African American, and 41 (13%) Asian/Asian American. Participants ranged in age from 16 to 48 years (M = 19.43, SD = 3.57), and 93% were 22 and under. At the time of their orientation, 20 (6%) participants reported their current educational goal to be obtaining at least an associate-level degree, 115 (37%) a baccalaureate degree, 118 (38%) a master=s degree, and 61 (19%) a doctorate. Typical of community college students, those in this study enrolled primarily on a part-time basis (M = 10.04 units, SD = 3.33); worked a significant number of hours per week (M = 20.69, SD = 14.68); studied fewer hours than the recommended time per week given their course load (M = 8.57, SD = 6.53); all commuted to the college with many by public transportation (30%), resulting in an average commute time of 42.07 minutes each way (SD = 29.41, 11% taking 90 or more minutes); and generally attributed their academic difficulties to external sources.

Data Sources:

Data was collected from the self-reportable College Student Inventory (CSI) and from a demographic questionnaire developed by the authors. The CSI is a multidimensional, standardized, and nationally normed instrument that measures students’ motivation for staying in college, general coping skills, and receptivity to support services (Stratil, 1988). The CSI is intended to be used as an “early warning system.” It identifies students likely to experience academic difficulties and/or dropout from college. The demographic questionnaire was designed to assess several variables, including high school background, parental education, current and planned work and study hours, means of transportation to and from college, perception for probationary status, and self-reported plans to overcome academic difficulties.

Analyses

Descriptive statistics were initially derived for the CSI and the demographic questionnaire, and assessed for the assumptions of normality, linearity, multicollinearity, and homogeneity of variance covariance. Four multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) were conducted to address the research questions (gender X ethnicity differences in composite scales assessing probationary students’ readiness/commitment to college, academic motivation, coping mechanisms, and receptivity to support services, and followed by analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) when significant multivariate effects were found. The dependent variables above, were comprised of four to six subscales from the CSI. High school grade point average was used as a covariate.

Results:

Analyses indicated no significant gender by ethnicity multivariate interactions were present in the four MANCOVAs conducted (p > .05). However, main effects for ethnicity were found on all four MANCOVA’s: readiness/commitment to college (Wilks L = .753, F(16, 849.94) = 5.16, p < .001, partial eta2 = .07); academic motivation (Wilks L = .795, F(24, 964.06) = 2.73, p < .001, partial eta2 = .06); coping mechanisms (Wilks L = .892, F(20, 919.66) = 1.62, p < .05, partial eta2 = .03); receptivity to support services (Wilks L = .766, F(20, 919.66) = 3.86, p < .001, partial eta 2 = .07). Additionally, a main effect for gender was found for academic motivation (Wilks L = .857, F(6, 276) = 7.70, p < .001, partial eta2 = .14).

The significant main effects discussed above were followed by ANCOVAs to determine the specific dependent variables in which probationary students differed. Post hoc pairwise comparisons for ethnic groups were also conducted. In reference to the readiness/commitment to college scales, ethnic differences were found in dropout proneness, predicted academic difficulty, and receptivity to institutional help. Specifically, Latinos were more likely to indicate a likelihood to dropout and African American students to a lesser degree. Latinos and African Americans were also more likely to anticipate more academic difficulties in the future, and both were more likely to accept institutional assistance pertaining to these difficulties.

In terms of academic motivation, Latinos compared to African Americans and students of other ethnicities were more likely to indicate a more favorable attitude toward educators (albeit well below average). Both White males and females indicated a higher degree of verbal confidence compared to other ethnic group students. Both Latinos and African Americans were also more likely to express a desire to receive institutional assistance in the form of financial guidance, social enrichment opportunities, and academic assistance compared to White students.

Conclusions:

On the basis of our findings we conclude that Latino students (and African Americans to a lesser extent) are more likely to experience academic and social difficulties when entering college compared to White and Asian students. While they anticipate precipitating events leading to their dropping out from college or continuing to experience academic difficulties, they too express a desire for institutional assistance.

Importance of the Study

Community colleges attract students with varying degrees of academic preparation. Thus, a significant number will experience academic difficulties or drop out within their first semester. Given our findings, we believe it is crucial that community colleges provide a supportive environment for at-risk students such as those included in this study. Academic and student support services must ensure that variables such as academic preparation, background (e.g., race/ethnicity, SES, first-generation status), employment and commuting issues, personal problems, and motivation levels are accounted for in designing support services and academic programs.

Given the student characteristics described above, it is evident that community college students, in particular Latino students, face many challenges atypical of most four-year college students. While it is possible that some of these probationary students will succeed without support services, many others will simply give up, perform poorly, or disappear altogether from our colleges without effective intervention. While many community colleges have “open admission” policies, it is crucial that those employed by these institutions remain committed to supporting student success. Part of this entails advocating for their welfare by proactively engaging them in the academic and social communities of the college. This includes the provision of high quality counseling/advising programs that go beyond “prescriptive” approaches (Crookston, 1972; Frost, 1993) to more “intrusive/developmental” or “integrated” approaches (Earl, 1988; Gordon, 2000). It has been reported that one of the primary factors linked to student attrition is poor academic advising (Wyckoff, 1999) which is often conducted by poorly trained paraprofessionals or by individuals lacking expertise in student development. Professionally trained counselors can ensure that a comprehensive assessment of students is conducted during the first—and often the only—visit, and will look beyond the presenting problem to assess for underlying, relevant issues. “The ability to maintain a multi-systems perspective and to use individual, group, and organizational change strategies” (Kiselica & Robinson, 2002, p. 387) is a necessary condition to advocate for and support student success. This allows counselors the opportunity to assess and take into consideration how students’ racial/ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, age, parenthood, employment, and so forth, might impact their educational and/or personal decisions; and subsequently provide them with appropriate interventions and advocacy.

References

Astin, A. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Crookston, B. B. (1972). A developmental view of academic advising as teaching. Journal of College Student Personnel, 13, 12–17.

Earl, W. R. (1988). Intrusive advising of freshmen in academic difficulty. NACADA Journal, 8, 27–33.

Frost, S. (1992). Academic advisement: A system of shared responsibilities. New York: Wiley.

Gordon, V. N. (2000). Academic advising. A Comprehensive Handbook (The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Hirsch, G. (2001). Helping college students succeed: A model for effective intervention. New York: Brunner-Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

Kiselica, M. S., & Robinson, M. (2001). Bringing advocacy counseling to life: The history, issues, and human dramas of social justice work in counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development, 79, 387-397.

Proposal Authors. (2002, March). Return to excellence: Re-Orientation of two-year college students on probation. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Counseling Association, Anaheim, CA.

Schlossberg, N. K. (1981). A model for analyzing human adaptation to transition. The Counseling Psychologist, 9(2), 2-18.

Schlossberg, N. K. (1989, Winter). Marginality and mattering: Key issues in building community. New-Directions-for-Student-Services, 48, 5-15.

Schlossberg, N. K., Lynch, A. Q., & Chickering, A. W. (1989). Improving higher education environments for adults: Responsive programs and services from entry to departure. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Schlossberg, N. K., Waters, E. B., & Goodman, J. (1995). Counseling adults in transitions: Linking practice with theory (2nd ed.). New York: Springer Publishing.

Stratil, M. (1988). College Student Inventory. Iowa City, IA: Noel-Levitz.

Tierney, W. G. (1992). An anthropological analysis of student participation in college. Journal of Higher Education, 62(6), 603-618.

Tierney, W. G., & Hagedorn, L. S. (Eds.) (2002). Increasing access to college: Extending possibilities for all students.Albany, NY: StateUniversity of New York.

Tinto, V. (1993). Leavingcollege: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Wyckoff, S. C. (1999). The academic advising process in higher education: History, research, and improvement. Recruitment & Retention in Higher Education, 13(1), 1-3.

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