Following a trend of increased college enrollment nationwide, more Hispanic women are taking an active interest in higher education, experts say.
A study conducted by University of Nebraska-Lincoln educational administration professor Brent Cejda and professor Sheldon Stick claims more Hispanic woman are applying to, enrolling in and graduating from prominent universities than in years past.
Cejda said the new goal for Hispanic men and women is a baccalaureate degree, and he pointed to social and cultural change as signals of a brighter future for the demographic.
Higher education was never a consideration for many young Hispanics until after they had already graduated from high school, Cejda said.
“The key to the recent surge [in Hispanic enrollment] and to its continuation and growth is early information,” he said.
Cejda said it is important to start teaching students about higher education options as soon as they enter high school. He has asked several of the students he interviewed to serve as representatives in their own communities, distributing information and encouraging young Hispanic women to attend college, he said.
He said parents, clergy members and local officials are the primary sources of academic encouragement in Hispanic communities.
“For more and more of today’s young Hispanic women, college is not a choice, it’s a must,” Cejda said. “In the past, Hispanic women would finish their college education in their mid- to late-30s. Growing up, they probably didn’t have many examples to follow.”
Boston University College of General Studies sophomore Solange Garcia said a family’s educational history can encourage girls to make the most of an opportunity to attend college.
“A lot of the people in the past generations of my family never went to college,” she said. “My grandma did not go. Some of my cousins didn’t finish high school. My mom is traditional about the importance of education.”
Her mother’s influence has kept Garcia motivated, she said.
“There’s a good amount of pressure to keep my drive alive,” she said. “I don’t want to disappoint anybody.”
Garcia said incoming generations of Hispanic women are accommodated at BU by strong Hispanic cultural groups on campus.
“BU gives Hispanic students breathing space but also the space in which students can find support, be supported and support themselves,” she said.
Florida’s American Heritage School teacher Ivette Ali said she hopes the recent increase in Hispanic college enrollment continues.
“It’s so much better than what Hispanic women generally do, which is get married and have babies,” Ali said. “I like to see them becoming individuals rather than supplements to the household.”
Evelyn Rivera, a stay-at-home mother in Tamarac, Fla., has a business degree and is pursuing a teaching license. She said she pushes her 9-year-old daughter to get involved and stay focused.
“I want to give her lots of options because the professional world and higher education are so competitive,” Rivera said. “I want to set the foundation for her promising future.”
