The Role of High School Teachers in Hispanic Students’ Sense of Belonging in College: Implications for Family and Consumer Sciences Educators

Abstract

Although Hispanics are the fastest-growing and largest minority group in the United States, our educational system has struggled to respond to the influx of culturally diverse students in a way that significantly impacts their academic success. Hispanic students drop out of high school at a higher rate and are less likely to attend college, and/or complete degrees. Deficit-based literature only highlights the statistical nature of the educational crisis facing Latino students in the United States which simultaneously creates an occlusion for solutions to surface. In this study, high-achieving female Hispanic students (N=80) in a department of Family and Consumer Sciences of a major Hispanic-serving land grant university located near the American-Mexican border were surveyed to determine factors contributing to their academic successes. Results indicated that students’ relationship with their high school teachers played a significant role in their sense of belonging to the university. Implications for FCS educators are discussed.