Latinas: Their Education and Future: Gustavo A. Mellander

Part of the NCA Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement Journal of School Improvement, Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 2002

Latinas: Their Education and Future

Gustavo A. Mellander

About the Author: Dr. Mellander is a Professor of Educational Leadership and College Administration at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. He has served on 53 high school and college accreditation teams and as a consultant to numerous school districts and colleges. Here Dr. Mellander reviews a report, ¡Sí Se Puede! Yes We Can: Latinas in School, produced by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in 2000. This report can be purchased at www.aauw.org/2000/latina.html. Dr. Mellander is currently the Washington Correspondent for The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education and can be reached at gmelland@gmu.edu.

Editor's Note: "Latinas: Their Education and Future" is reprinted with permission of The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine, Volume 11, July 2, 2001.

The respected American Association of University Women (AAUW) with headquarters in Washington, D.C., has long led the fight to secure equal opportunities of 51% of the nation's population: its women.

It has been an uphill battle. AAUW's record is liberally peppered with its share of victories. Women have yet to achieve salary parity with men. But 86 cents versus $1.00 is a lot better than the 57 cents versus $1.00 of a few decades ago.

What about education? We have all read about the digital divide between affluent, mostly White suburbs and those areas inhabited by Hispanics. It is a vicious divide, and it is pervasive. Let's take that down a notch. What about the education provided Hispanics, specifically, Hispanic girls? In a few sharp words, AAUW points out that "our schools are not meeting the educational needs of America's fastest growing female minority population-Latinas." That is the essence of its 2000 report, ¡Sí Se Puede! Yes We Can: Latinas in School.

The report reviews the K-12 educational status and progress of Latinas. It explores the cultural interaction between America's Hispanic children and the schools they attend. Carefully researched and poignantly written by Angela B. Ginorio and Michelle Huston, the report examines Latinas and how their futures or "possible selves," are fashioned by a multiplicity of influences-their families, their culture, their peers, their teachers, the media, and the interaction among all of them.

According to the report, Latinas lag behind other racial and ethnic groups of girls in several key educational measures. They have not benefited from gender equity advances to the degree or extent that other groups of girls have.

Differences

Analyzing the differences in educational achievement between Latinas and other girls, the report finds that:

The high school graduation rate for Latinas is lower.
Latinas are less likely to take the SAT exam than are their White or Asian counterparts, and those who do so score lower, on average.
Compared with their female peers, Latinas are under-enrolled in Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) courses and in AP courses.
Latinas are the least likely of any women to complete a bachelor's degree.

Latino Men

Well, are Latino men doing any better? No. Although Latinas fare worse than do other racial ethnic groups of girls on most measures of educational performance, they perform better than do their male peers on many measures. Comparing Latinas to Latinos, the report finds that:

In the fourth grade, Latinas score higher in reading and history; by eighth grade, they score higher in mathematics and reading; and by the twelfth grade, they score higher in science and reading.
Latinas outnumber Latinos in taking the SAT exam (58 to 42% in 1999), yet they score lower than do Latinos on both the math and verbal section. The gender gap among Hispanics is greater than that of any other group. Latinas take the same number of or more AP exams than do Latinos but score lower in AP math and science exams. Latinas are nearly three times less likely to be suspended and less likely to be referred for special education than are Latinos.
The report provides clear and compelling evidence that both Latinas and Latinos still face stereotyping and encounter other obstacles that discourage success in school.
Some obstacles are different for Latinas than for Latinos. Latinas are three times as likely to fear for their personal safety in school, as are other girls. And teachers and counselors often assume that Latinos are gang members simply because they speak Spanish, seem foreign, and act differently.

Recommendations and Suggestions

All adults who relate to young Hispanics need to encourage academic success. Latinas need to hear from all adults in their lives that college and professional careers are rewarding options and ones that they can achieve. Advisors must curb tendencies to promote gender and racially stereotyped careers and must ensure that Latinas are not underrepresented in college-prep classes.

More K-12 schools and colleges must recruit and train teachers from the Hispanic community as role models who can better connect educational goals to the students' cultural background.

The whole family has to be actively involved in the college preparation process. College requirements need to be demystified. Families need to understand longer-term benefits of attending college.

Finally, teen pregnancy, which impacts school performance, has to be addressed in an honest and forthright fashion. Strategies presently exist to keep youngsters from getting pregnant, but failing that, those new mothers must be kept in school. That can be accomplished by offering child care and alternative scheduling, and by recognizing that being a young mother and a student intent on completing her education are not incompatible.