Sociohistorical, sociopolitical and sociostructural barriers in American society create different paths in the college-to-work transition. Some individuals can follow their natural calling for a vocation, while others must contend with limited access to occupational opportunities. The emancipatory communitarian (EC) framework advocates for resisting and changing of structural barriers that hinder the career path of oppressed groups. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) explains how sociocultural and background contextual factors interact with self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and career goals to shape career behavior. The present study investigated the relation of ethnic identity and acculturation to self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations by testing the validity of SCCT tenets with a sample of 357 Latina/o college students. An EC-SCCT framework was used to explore the relationships among ethnic identity, acculturation level, career decision self-efficacy, coping efficacy, and perceived barriers. The results of a modified path model demonstrated that, for this sample, career decision self-efficacy mediated the influence of ethnic identity and Anglo bicultural orientation on the perception of career barriers. The findings also point to the role of ethnic identity in augmenting Latina/o students' career decision self-efficacy and increasing awareness about career barriers (e.g., ethnic discrimination). The current study contributes to the literature promoting a liberational approach to vocational and counseling psychology theory, research, and practice. Limitations and implications for theory, research, training, and practice are discussed.

This study identified factors contributing to Mexican-American student persistence in higher education. Tinto's model of student withdrawal was blended with Astin's theory of involvement in a theoretical framework that also gave special focus to hispanic and Mexican-American student concerns. The data consisted of unstructured interviews with a small sample of Mexican-American students at the University of Arizona. Content analysis was used to categorize the data and symbolic interaction theory was used for its interpretation. Findings about personal and institutional factors, were combined to understand persistence in the context of person/environment interaction. The personal factors influencing student persistence were "self," human support, financial adversity, commitment, acculturation, and gender differences; none of these factors stood alone, and each was present to some degree in each of the successful students. Commitment was the most important overriding theme in these personal factors. The institutional factors influencing persistence were academic preparation, use of student services, student/instructor interaction, and academic experiences. Symbolic interaction theory was the analytic framework used to interpret these factors of student persistence in the light of the meanings students attached to events in their college experiences. Empowering students to succeed is proposed as the organizing model for institutions to influence persistence.

High-achieving African American students are not immune to the issues that underlie racial inequalities in school achievement. There is much to learn from these students in terms of how they navigate schools and achieve according to conventional standards. Further, serious questions remain about the social and racial costs to being constructed as high-achieving against broader narratives of African American students as deficient. This qualitative inquiry uses participant interviews and document analysis to explore the Discourses on achievement and leadership produced by minority recruitment programs and the students who participate in them. Specifically, the research uses critical discourse tools to look at the narratives produced both by African American students and by (and through) program documents. It seeks to understanding where these narratives converge and where there might be tension. This research is conducted by incorporating a socio-cultural literacy and critical race theory framework. This dissertation study is at the intersection of equity and access; it problematizes progressive arguments against a segregated curriculum for high-achieving students by invoking a social justice argument in favor of leveling the playing field for traditionally marginalized students, specifically African Americans. Much of the existing literature on high achievement and African Americans takes place in traditional classrooms. Glaringly absent from the literature on achievement are the ways in which some high-performing students of color are positioned to succeed in competitive, non-school environments. Specifically, I look at minority recruitment programs because these programs teach a particular type of literacy. The study explores the degree to which students’ home literacies are being honored. Findings indicate that students’ perspectives on achievement were much more critical than those of the programs with students overtly challenging meritocracy. Students were less critical of leadership, and both programs and students offered views that privileged particular literacies of leadership. The researcher offers recommendations for MRPs that calls for programs to involve students in more critical inquiries through the use of a Critical Race English education lens.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of social interaction and social distance or comfort among five undergraduate ethnic groups (African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Caucasian Americans, and Hispanic Americans) at Oregon State University. Another purpose was to explore the correlation between the level of social contact and comfort or social distance among the five ethnic groups. The sample included 284 full time continuing undergraduate students at Oregon State University. The contact scale included items measuring the number of acquaintances, frequency of interaction, positive degree of feeling, number of friends, and duration of contact. The comfort scale was a modified version of Byrnes and Kiger's (1988) Social Scale. It asked respondents to rate from one (very uncomfortable) to seven (very comfortable) their comfort with people of different ethnicities in six roles as: president of the United States, a counselor, a professor, a small group member in a classroom or group activity, a roommate, or a date. Two-way analyses of variance provided comparative information about ethnicity and gender. Newman-Keuls tests of significance were also employed. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to investigate the relationship between contact and comfort. Results of the study showed that students were generally comfortable with all groups, but least comfortable with Asian Americans. As a group, Asian Americans were less comfortable with other groups than were other ethnic groups. Minority groups were most comfortable with their own group. All minority groups except African Americans were significantly more comfortable with Caucasian Americans than with other minority groups. Correlations between contact and comfort for each group were positive and significant in all but 18 of 60 correlations performed. They were not significant for American Indians as either respondent or target group. In addition, results showed that there are not as many American Indian students at OSU as was originally thought. Further, students indicated little interaction with American Indians. / Graduation date: 1992

Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): Brad Johnson, Susan Hocevar. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-66). Also available online.

The increasing inter-cultural communication in China has led to a growing interest in how the ethnic minorities cope with the encountered main stream (Han)culture of China. The present research compared Tibetan and Han college students studying in a Northwest China province, examining how Tibetan college students acculturated into Han cultural environment concerning their thinking styles, emotion regulation, acculturation strategy, academic performance, and psychological well-being. The present research was composed of a pilot study and a main study. The pilot study was conducted among 105 Tibetan and 147 Han college students studying in a teacher-training university in Northwest China. It aimed at validating the measures that were to be used in the main study, exploring the possible effects that culture might have on thinking styles and emotion regulation, as well as tentatively investigating the relationships among the variables of interest. The main study involved 483 Tibetan students from two nationality universities and 265 Han students from a teacher-training university who responded to the same set of questionnaires validated in the pilot study twice, with an interval of seven months. The quantitative procedure was followed by a qualitative one in which five teachers (one Han and four Tibetans) and eight students (Tibetans who participated in the questionnaire surveys) in the three sampled universities were interviewed. Both the quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to answer three research questions:1) How and why do the Tibetan students’ thinking styles and emotion regulation change as they study in Han cultural environment? 2) What are the relationships among Tibetan college students’ thinking styles, emotion regulation, and their acculturation strategy? And 3) What roles do thinking style, emotion regulation, and acculturation strategy play in Tibetan college students’ academic performance and psychological well-being? The results suggested that the Tibetan and Han college students did differ from each other in their thinking styles and emotion regulation. Longitudinal data supported that the Tibetan students’ thinking styles, emotion regulation, and acculturation strategy, as well as the relationships among these variables changed across time. Thinking styles, emotion regulation, and acculturation strategy were all found to have direct effects on their psychological well-being and academic performance. The effects of some of the thinking style and emotion regulation variables on psychological well-being and academic performance were also found to be mediated by either or both of the two dimensions of the Tibetan students’ acculturation strategy (i.e., ethnic and dominant society immersions). Meanwhile, the four acculturation strategies (i.e., integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization) were also found to moderate the effects of the thinking styles and emotion regulation on the psychological well-being and academic performance. With the support from the literature and interviews, the quantitative findings were discussed. The findings of the present research would not only provide valuable information on assisting in understanding the development of people’s thinking styles, emotion regulation, and acculturation, but also provide helpful information for the higher education institutions to improve their teaching and management of the ethnic minority students. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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The purpose of this study was to investigate recruiting and retention practices for African American music students in selected colleges and universities. This study also investigated model programs formulated for the improvement of African American student enrollment in higher education, generally or in other professional fields and specialized programs.Subjects in the study were twenty-two music executives in music units of selected colleges and universities based on three general criteria as follows: (1) Historically Black Colleges and Universities whose enrollments were 4,000 and above; (2) Institutions that participated in the Richardson Study and cited for having success in minority student access, retention, and graduation; and (3) Institutions that participated in the National Black Student Retention Conferences (1987 or 1988).A survey questionnaire was completed by the subjects in order to determine the effectiveness of recruitment and retention practices and strategies employed by music units. The data were organized for analysis by frequencies, percentages and calculations of chi-squared statistics.The results of this study suggest that there are a variety of recruiting practices and admission policies that may impact increased enrollment of African American students in music units. Various retention practices were determined that may promote persistence and achievement. Support services were identified as financial resources and special assistance programs. Other factors included non-academic retention predictors and the presence of African American faculty in the music unit.Another valuable source of information regarding the recruitment and retention of Black students was found in eight model programs. Recruiting strategies included outreach programs, precollege programs, linkages with elementary and secondary schools, faculty, staff and alumni involvement, and flexible, multiple criteria for college admission. Retention strategies included support services that focused on the academic, cultural and social needs of African American students.This study revealed numerous findings which may be employed by music units. These findings offer supportive evidence for the development of model programs that promote and enhance access, retention, and graduation for the African American music student in higher education. / School of Music

The purpose of this study was to analyze possible effects of the 1997-1998 Multicultural Advisor Pilot Program which was designed to positively effect the adjustment of students of color to the Ball State University environment. The study utilizes the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire which examines a student's full-scale adjustment, academic adjustment, social adjustment, personal-emotional adjustment, and attachment/commitment to their education and institution. Results of the study suggest various differences in adjustment to the Ball State University environment do exist between the first-year students of color affected by the program and the first-year students of color who were not involved with the Multicultural Advisor Pilot program. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education

Bronfenbrenner (2001) proposes that individual development is based on reciprocal interactions between personal variables, social interactions and the environment. If exposed to a non-accepting environment, individuals are assumed to have poorer adjustment as compared to those in accepting environments. Once exposed to a more accepting environment, psychosocial adjustment is expected to increase. D’Augelli (1994b) also sees sexual identity development as influenced by interpersonal interactions occurring in one’s environment. Sexual minority adolescents have high rates of depression, suicidality and victimization, and lower levels of self-esteem and social support. Methodological issues, including recruitment and inclusion of only those who are “out”, have potentially inflated previous results regarding psychosocial maladjustment. Therefore, the current study was designed to address those methodological flaws. A sample consisting of 286 sexual minority college students completed the following measures: demographics questionnaire, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Suicidal Behavior Questionnaire-Revised, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and victimization questionnaires. It was hypothesized that when controlling for social support, rural participants would report higher rates of psychological maladjustment (depression, suicidality, self-esteem) and victimization (in person and electronic), as compared to non-rural participants; males would have higher rates of suicidality and victimization as compared to females, whereas females were expected to have higher levels of depression and lower self-esteem as compared to males; and sexual minorities spending more time in an accepting macrosystem (greater than two years in college) were expected to have lower levels of psychological maladjustment and victimization than those spending less time in an accepting macrosystem (less than two years in college). It was also hypothesized that participants would report higher rates of victimization prior to college, as compared to when in college. Results showed that psychological maladjustment did not differ based on gender, environment or time spent in college. However, rates of psychological maladjustment were found to be lower than previous studies reported. This may indicate that previous research is skewed due to using a non representative sample. Rates of victimization were higher for participants prior to entering college, as compared to when in college, and were higher for men than women. No differences were found between rates of victimization between environments, however. These results may indicate different things. It is plausible that persons in rural environments are more accepting of sexual minorities than has been noted in the past. This may be due to the increased exposure of sexual minority issues in the media and the internet. However, rates of perceived social support were high for the current sample, and essentially the same between those from rural and non-rural areas. Such results may confirm Bronfenbrenner’s assertion that microsystemic processes combat psychological maladjustment. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services