Abstract
This thesis analyzes the relationship of Latino university students’ ethnic and racial identities and their academic achievement at California State University, Sacramento. In this study the following questions are examined: (1) from a large number of possibilities, what ethnic and racial labels do Latino university students identify with? (2) What do the chosen ethnic and racial labels mean for the university students’ identities? (3) Are Latino students’ identities associated with their academic achievement at CSU Sacramento? To analyze these questions, this study examined four possible relationships (see Chapter 4) between ethnic and racial identity (i.e., Assimilation, Biculturalism, Marginalized, and Nepantla) and academic achievement. The study relied on a structured survey (see APPENDIX E) examining individuals’ ethnic and racial identity perceptions and academic achievement at California State University, Sacramento, among other variables. The sample consisted of 161currently enrolled students from California State University, Sacramento. These participants were adults, 18 and over, and identified with the Latino identity or a form thereof. Findings from the study revealed that most respondents identified with the “Mexican-American” label option (see FIGURE 1). Racial label identification, however, was the least desirable form of personal identification. Further reinforcing this conclusion was respondents’ reasoning in identifying their personal ethnic/racial perceptions of self. When respondents were asked to elaborate on the meaning and/or reasoning behind their chosen ethnic and/or racial label identification(s), place/country of birth and parent origin(s) were the most popular explanations given. Furthermore, regression analysis and ANOVA revealed a positive association between bicultural identification and academic achievement (see Chapter 3/4). Compared to a bicultural (In-Between) identity, Assimilation, Marginalized, and High Latino Identification, had a much lower impact on the academic achievement of respondents. However, the data collected was unable to demonstrate any statistically significant impact of the control variables: gender, parent household income, transnationalism, and/or generational status, on the identity perceptions and/or academic achievement of respondents.