Latino Access to Higher Education: Ethnic Realitites and New Directions for the Twenty-first Century

by Martin Guevara Urbina, Claudia Rodriguez Wright

While the black and white racial experience has been delineated over the years, the ethnic realities of Latinos have received minimal attention. Therefore, with Latinos projected as the upcoming U.S. population majority, the central goal of this book is to document the Latino experience in the world of academia, focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on first-generation Latino students in higher education, delineating the dynamics of the educational journey, while situating their experiences within the ethnic community, the overall American society, and the international community. The text focuses on (1) ethnic realities including Latino student access to higher education, retention, graduation rates, and career success; (2) analysis of historic trends; (3) extensive review of prior empirical studies; (4) a holistic portrayal of education in the U.S.; (5) a qualitative study conducted in an institution of higher education in Texas, placing the stories of participating Latino students in theoretical context; (6) vivid documentation of historically entrenched racial ideologies in American education; (7) exploration of potential solutions to historical and contemporary barriers confronting Latino students; (8) development of a model of empowerment for Latino students; (9) information for the establishment of a balanced educational system; (10) accountability of higher education institutions; (11) review of revolutionizing education in the midst of current globalization; and (12) venturing into the future of Latino education in the overall American experience. Finally, the book seeks to examine not only America's racism that is evident, but also the structural, cultural, and ideological forces that have influenced and continue to perpetuate the current educational situation for Latinos.

Genres: Education

282 pages, Paperback

First published October 19, 2015

About the author

Martin Guevara Urbina, PhD, a native of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, is a Mexican American author, writer, researcher, professor, and speaker who, as a sociologist and criminologist, has engaged in an intensive academic research, publication, and discourse agenda designed to provide readers with evidence-based information of ethnic and racial minorities in the United States, with an emphasis on the exploration of the Latino experience and a focus on the Mexican American experience.

Dr. Urbina is a Distinguished Professor and Professor of Criminal Justice in the Department of Natural & Behavioral Sciences at Sul Ross State University, Del Rio, Texas. Professor Urbina has taught at New Mexico State University, Western Michigan University, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, Howard College, Southwest Texas Junior College, and Texas A&M University—Central Texas. Professor Urbina was awarded a Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Teaching by Western Michigan University in 1999, and he was nominated for the 2003-2004 UWM Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award by the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee. Urbina is also recipient of the prestigious President’s Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award (Sul Ross State University, 2019).

Professor Urbina is author, coauthor, or editor of over 70 scholarly publications on a wide range of topics, including several academic books: Immigration and the Law: Race, Citizenship, and Social Control (2018); Hispanics in the U.S. Criminal Justice System: Ethnicity, Ideology, and Social Control (2018); Ethnicity and Criminal Justice in the Era of Mass Incarceration: A Critical Reader on the Latino Experience (2017); Latino Access to Higher Education: Ethnic Realities and New Directions for the Twenty-First Century (2016); Latino Police Officers in the United States: An Examination of Emerging Trends and Issues (2015); Twenty-First Century Dynamics of Multiculturalism: Beyond Post-Racial America (2014); Ethnic Realities of Mexican Americans: From Colonialism to 21st Century Globalization (2014); Capital Punishment in America: Race and the Death Penalty Over Time (2012); Hispanics in the U.S. Criminal Justice System: The New American Demography (2012); A Comprehensive Study of Female Offenders: Life Before, During, and After Incarceration (2008); and Capital Punishment and Latino Offenders: Racial and Ethnic Differences in Death Sentences (2003, 2011).

His work has been published in national and international academic journals, to include Justice Quarterly; Critical Criminology; Social Justice; Latino Studies; and Criminal Law Bulletin. Urbina’s work has been cited (and/or contributed) in the popular media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and online news), including EFE News Agency (EFE is Spain’s International News Agency, the largest newswire service in Spain, Latin America, and the Hispanic Media in the U.S. and the 4th largest newswire service worldwide); El Periodico de Mexico; El Pais; El Universal (UN1ÓN); Diario Las Americas; San Diego Union Tribune; El Nuevo Diario; El Nuevo Herald; La Prensa Latina; Viva Noticias; LA Times; Terra; and Yahoo News. Urbina has made appearances in radio and television, including Zona Franca TV, Imagen Radio (air live to the entire country of Mexico and live stream worldwide), and Radio Bilingue (Línea Abierta, the first and only national live talk and call-in program in public broadcasting interconnecting Spanish-speaking audiences and newsmakers throughout the U.S. and Mexico). In the United States, Professor Urbina appears frequently in primetime evening news for Telemundo, where he has discussed historical, existing, and emerging social, economic, political issues—like immigration, deportations, excessive/deadly force in policing, imprisonment of children, the school-to-prison pipeline, and national security.

Urbina's website: http://www.martinguevaraurbina.com

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