Persistencia de nuestro ingeniera/os: examining the persistence of Latina/os in engineering at a minority serving community college

2015-05-01It is estimated that Latinos will comprise 30% of the U.S. Population by 2050 (Passel & Cohn, 2008). Given these demographic predictions, Millett and Nettles (2006) suggest the Latina/os have the potential to make great strides in engineering education (Millett & Nettles, 2006). It is widely known that Latina/o access post-secondary education via community colleges. Yet, little attention has been given to the experiences of Latino, engineering majors enrolled at the community college. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychological, social, and cultural experiences that impact the success (i.e. persisting and transfer behavior) of Latina/o, engineering students through their completion of lower-division courses at the community college. Using a qualitative approach, the researcher sought to understand the experiences that facilitated persistence of 8 Latina/o, engineering students at the community college. The findings revealed that a student’s persistence was predicated on ten themes: (1) educational aspirations; (2) motivation; (3) family support; (4) faculty support; (5) peer support; (6) extra-curricular and co-curricular activities; (7) campus climate; (8); cultural congruity; (9) barriers to transfer; and (10) overcoming barriers. The results of this research provide a greater understanding to practitioners and institutions, so that they may adequately provide the necessary resources and environments needed for the persistence of Latina/o engineering majors at the community college