The Intricacies of and Relation between Latino Parental Support and College Decision Making

This investigation centered on the relation between perceived parental support for college attendance and students' postsecondary educational aspirations and enrollment intentions. A particular focus of the examination was on the distinction between behavioral-based and non-behavioral-based forms of parental support (labeled interventionist and noninterventionist forms of support, respectively). Three hundred and thirty-seven twelfth grade Latino students who participated in the Puente Program--a research-based college preparation program--were surveyed twice during their senior year in high school. In the first survey, students indicated their own educational aspirations and expectations as well as their perceptions of their parents' aspirations for their education. They also specified their perceptions of parental support along various dimensions. When surveyed again at the culmination of their senior year, students reported on college preparatory actions taken and post-high school plans. The results of an exploratory factor analysis suggest that perceived parental support for college represents the expression of four distinct underlying dimensions, a more differentiated version of the two types of perceived support initially hypothesized. The factors labeled Broad Intervention and Intervention College Admissions correspond to the anticipated interventionist construct as they encompass survey items that assessed behavioral-based support. The factors labeled Nonintervention Purpose and Nonintervention Encourage are aligned with the anticipated noninterventionist construct as all the items within these subscales referred to non-behavioral motivational input. Investigation of the factors associated with various dimensions of support revealed that low-income, less educated Latino parents were less likely to support their children by interventionist means. Parents born outside of the United States were more likely to provide motivational encouragement intended to convey messages about the purpose of college (i.e., Nonintervention Purpose). Student characteristics in middle school were not significantly related to parenting styles of support provision. Results further indicate that there was a direct significant association between perceptions of overall support and acceptance to a four-year college; parents' propensity to offer Intervention College Admissions support varied significantly across aspiration categories; and parents' propensity to offer Intervention College Admissions support was significantly related to whether or not students were accepted into four-year colleges. Finally, participants in the present study were found to report higher educational plans/expectations and perceived parental aspirations than Latino students from the western region of the United States who participated in the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002.Findings from the present study reinforce the connection between parental support and both aspirations and college acceptance. Results suggest that bolstering parent support through the curricula of college preparation programs is central to programmatic success