Latino students often embark on their post-secondary educational journey at a community college due to cost, proximity to family, and open access policies. The current literature on Latina/o community college students has primarily focused on a deficit view of the educational aspirations and educational completion of this population. The current rapid and expected growth of the Latina/o population requires a call to action to identify the capital and supports employed by these students to navigate their journey to eventual transfer to the University in the Southwest region of the United States. Guided by Yosso's (2005) Community Cultural Wealth framework, my dissertation examined the educational experiences of five Latino male students at a Southwest Community College. Latina/o students highlighted the challenges that they encountered, resources available to overcome these challenges, and their resiliency. The findings are indicative of the presence and utilization of aspirational, navigational and resilience capital driven by self-determination.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate and predict Latino male student retention using ACT’s Engage College survey at a research university in the southwestern region of the U.S. ACT’s Engage survey was designed to predict first-year college retention using 10 psychosocial measures. However, no empirical study exists to support ACT’s claim especially for Latino male students. Data from a four-year research university between 2009 and 2011 were analyzed with logistic regression. Logistic regression analysis was performed for the whole sample (N = 8,061) and for the Latino male subsample (n = 860). In the entire sample’s first regression model, high school grade quartile and SAT score as well as demographic variables were used as predictor variables. In this model, the independent variables of high school grade point average quartile, SAT score, gender, and race made statistically significant contributions to the model (Nagelkerke R2 = .031, p < .01). In the entire sample’s second regression model, ACT’s 10 psychosocial variables were added to the first regression model as predictor variables. Results indicated the instrument was valid for the freshmen as a whole because five out of 10 psychosocial measures displayed statistically significant odds ratios (ORs) for predicting retention: (a) Commitment to College (OR = 1.006, p < .01), (b) Academic Discipline (OR = 1.005, p < .01), (c) Social Activity (OR = -.997, p < .01), (d) Social Connection (OR = 1.004, p < .01), and (e) Academic Self-Confidence (OR = -.997, p < .01). Regarding the subsample of 860 Latino males, none of the 10 psychosocial measures produced statistically significant results. The findings indicate the need to determine a new way of identifying at-risk Latino male students because current methods have failed to build a robust predictive model for this student population.

This Master thesis focuses on the dynamic of the development and rethinking of the concept of the traditional Latino patriarchal family built up around male dominance. This work explores the changes of the traditional concept under the pressure of society of the United States in novels written in English by authors of Latino origin awarded for their novels after 2000. The most significant of them being Junot Díaz and his The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao; the other two are Mexican Female authors Stella Pope Duarte with If I Die in Juárez and Reyna Grande with Across a Hundred Mountains. The first part is purely theoretical, stemming from the concepts of traditional Latino masculinity, the role of the female and children in the patriarchal family in order to explain the clash of values and family crises which Latinos undergo once they are confronted with the different system of values of the United States and the consequences for all family members. In the second part, all three books are analyzed on the basis of the male - female polarity. Consequences for families are explored as seen by Latino/a authors. Finally, solutions and possible ways of escaping the vicious spiral of violence and tensions created by the changed paradigm penetrating the Latino family life as suggested in the novels are...