Abstract
This study of Hispanic student pathways focused on successful community college transfer students in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM) disciplines to discover significant personal and academic factors influencing their pathway. The impetus for this study is the persistence of achievement gaps in STEM disciplines for Hispanic students, the largest and fastest growing population in the U.S. Eighty-percent (80%) of Hispanic students start public higher education at community colleges, but few graduate, particularly in STEM fields. Achievement gaps in STEM have economic ramifications not only for the Hispanic population, but also the economy and competitiveness of the U.S. and California. The theoretical framework for this study included Tinto’s Persistence/Interactionalist Student Departure Model, Bourdieu’s Theory of Cultural Capital and Padilla’s Latino Student Success Model, which was further informed through the literature review. This study used a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was collected by electronic survey to Sacramento State transfer students majoring in STEM. Survey responses were analyzed by Pearson correlation and a summary of open-ended responses was provided. Two focus groups were held to collect qualitative data using a semi-structured interview protocol. Open-coding was used to discover themes from student responses and discover convergence and differences with quantitative data. Family was the most significant contributing factor to student success in this study, providing emotional support and a push or permission to continue to pursue an education. Socio-economic status played a significant role in students’ educational pathway in this study. Despite a paucity of Hispanic role models and mentors in STEM for underrepresented students, findings suggest that some students are able to find surrogate role models through teachers and community college professors despite racial/ethnic differences. Students in this study generally had positive feelings on the role of community college in their success, particularly community college faculty. The concept of “transition time” was an unexpected finding in this study. Community colleges allowed students to adjust to being independent and discover their pathway. Additional time needed to transition and mature, for some students, may be tied to culture and the closeness of family in Hispanic communities. Recommendations in this study include maintaining access through financial aid, increasing communication to parents, and increasing training by development of the Hispanic Transfer Student Typologies model.