Browsing by Subject "Mexican American college students"

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A case study of learning styles of Mexican-American college students
(Texas Tech University, 1994-12) Johnson, Betty S
Hispanics are the fastest growing population in the country today, and Mexican-Americans are the fastest growing Hispanic population. While Mexican-American youth are becoming a larger portion of the potential college pool, the percentage of Mexican-Americans actually attending college is decreasing. Even more alarming for those in higher education is the fact that of those Mexican-Americans who attend college, only a few persist to graduation. Institutions of higher education located in the states with a large Mexican-American population are faced with the problem of recruiting Mexican-American students and retaining them through graduation. The first step toward solving the problem may be for educators to gain an understanding of the culturally imposed needs of the Mexican-American learner. Twenty-five years of research on Mexican-American elementary and secondary students clearly establishes that their field-sensitive learning styles are a result of cultural practices. Socialization and child-rearing in the Mexican- American culture lead to a strong need for learning environments that are socially oriented. Although one might predict that this field-sensitive style will follow Mexican- American students into their college years, virtually no research on style has been conducted with Mexican-American college students serving as subjects. The purpose of this case study, therefore, is to identify and describe the learning preferences of a group of Mexican- American college students to determine if there is a commonality in their learning preferences. The assessment instrument used in the study is the Canfield Learning Style Inventory. The three research questions studied are: (1) Is there a commonality among Mexican-American college students in their preferences for conditions of learning? (2) Is there a commonality among Mexican-American college students in their preferences for course content? (3) Is there a commonality among Mexican-American college students in their preferences for mode of learning? The results of the study show a strong trend of the Mexican-American subjects toward a socially oriented style. The subjects show a strong preference for working with people in conditions of learning, strong preference for content that involves people, and a strong preference for listening, an activity that involves other people.
Ethnic identity, acculturation, perceived discrimination, and college adjustment in Mexican Americans
(Texas Tech University, 1999-08) Shibazaki, Kozue
Adjusting to coUege can be a difficult task for many college students. Variables that have been examined for their relationship to college adjustment include locus of control, social support, past academic achievement, goal stability, optimism, and self-esteem. For Mexican American college students, there may be unique problems that must be addressed in adjusting to college. In addition to the variables that have been examined among the general college populatï¿½on, research has specifically investigated college adjustment among Mexican American students. This research has included variables such as ethnic identity and acculturation and has yielded inconsistent findings. Studies have found that the availability of family support is positively associated with college adjustment among Mexican American students. This dissertation extended the existing literature by examining perceived discrimination in additï¿½on to ethnic identï¿½ty, acculturation, and family support and the relationships among these variables among a sample of Mexican American students. Also, the manner in which individuals deal with discrimination along different levels of ethnic identity and acculturation was assessed. CoUege self-efficacy, which has been examined by only a limited number of studies, was also addressed. The results indicated that higher levels of acculturation, socioeconomic status, and family support and being male were associated with lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and higher levels of mental health, academic adjustment, social adjustment, course efflcacy, social effï¿½cacy, personal-emotional adjustment, and institutional attachment. Having lower levels of acculturation and higher levels of generatï¿½on status were associated with increased levels of perceived discrimination. When coping with discrimination, higher levels of ethnic identity were associated with increased usage of reflective coping style.
Mexican American and Caucasian university students' experience of sexual harassment: the intertwining of power and culture
(2004) Kearney, Lisa Kathryn; Gilbert, Lucia Albino.
While many studies have examined the sexual harassment of university students, little research has specifically addressed the sexual harassment of Mexican American university students. The main purpose of this study was to gather data about the harassment experiences of Mexican American female students and to investigate how their experiences compared to those of Caucasian female students. In particular, the study investigated students' responses to a subset of variables that illuminate the intertwining of power and culture in the experience of harassment. These variables included: 1) responses to harassing behavior, 2) perceptions of offenders' power, 3) attitudes toward harassment, and 4) the psychological effects of harassment. In accordance with power models of harassment, sex-role spillover theory, and minority marginalization theories, Mexican American students were hypothesized to experience more harassing behaviors, more indirect responses to behavior, attribute greater power to offenders, be more tolerant of harassment, and experience more negative consequences. Mexican American (n=261) and Caucasian female students (n=111) were recruited from three universities, including one university on the border of the United States and Mexico. Participants completed a packet of instruments measuring the frequency of harassing behaviors experienced, perceived power of the offender, attitudes towards harassment, chosen response to harassing behavior, post-traumatic stress and depression symptoms, and acculturation. Contrary to what was predicted, Caucasians reported experiencing more harassing behaviors than Mexican Americans and attributed greater power to offenders holding faculty/staff positions. Mexican Americans endorsed more tolerant attitudes and attributed greater power to student offenders. Both groups reported similar levels of negative psychological consequences and chose more indirect response styles. Acculturation was not found to be significantly associated with any factors. Rather than supporting minority vulnerability theories, these findings are more consistent with theories that view sexual harassment as a means of exhibiting and maintaining power. Recent research indicates that more egalitarian women experience greater harassment than traditional women. Since Caucasian women in the United States generally hold more egalitarian views of gender roles than Hispanic women, Caucasian university women may experience more harassing behaviors as a method of decreasing their power in society. Implications of these findings are discussed.