Latino Students in Higher Education

Identifying critical issues and new possibilities at Bay Area universities

Equity Mindedness in Higher Education:
Becoming an Agent for Institutional Change

Latinos, African Americans, American Indians, and Asian/Pacific Islanders have gained greater access to higher education since the passage of the 1964 Civil  Rights Act.   However, increased access has not translated into equity in BA attainment. Professor Bensimon views inequality in higher education as a problem of institutional practices, structures, and policies.  She and her colleagues at the Center for Urban Education have designed the Equity Scorecard, a tool that is informed by theories of organizational learning, practice theory, and participatory critical action research methods, as a strategy of equity-minded change.  In this talk, Dr. Bensimon will discuss the importance of being intentional about equity and discuss strategies to build an “equity minded” campus.

Estela Mara Bensimon, Ed.D.

Dr. Bensimon is a professor of higher education and and founder and co-director of the Center for Urban Education (CUE) at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education. CUE's goal under her leadership is to produce academic research about the importance of equity and equity-mindedness in higher education, and to create tools for practitioners that lead to equitable student outcomes. Her work has resulted in the development of the signature Equity Scorecard, a unique action research model.

Her current research is on racial equity in higher education from the perspective of organizational learning and socio-cultural practice theories - particularly place-based, practitioner-driven inquiry for organizational change.

Professor Hurtado will be speaking on her recent work, including the edited book Understanding the Disenfranchisement of Latino Men and Boys: Invisible No More. She will review the original research and new theoretical paradigms to examine and explain the severe social, educational, and economic disadvantages, hardships, and vulnerabilities experienced by Latino men and boys — ones that include high dropout rates, disproportionate levels of incarceration, and their concentration in low wage jobs. Through the application of the theoretical framework of intersectionality,she examines the ways in which race, class, sexuality, ethnicity and gender interact to marginalize Latino men and boys in the United States and to severely limit their life chances.

Aida Hurtado, Ph.D.  

Dr. Hurtado is a Luis Leal Endowed Professor and current faculty member of the Department of Chicana/o Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  Prior work experience includes working for the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she helped   develop the Social Psychology Graduate Program, with an emphasis on social justice and multidisciplinary methods. Dr. Hurtado is a past chair of the National Association for Chicana/Chicano Studies.
 
She has written several books and is the recipient of the 2014 Outstanding Latino/a Faculty in Higher Education Award. Professor Hurtado's co-authored book, Beyond Machismo: Intersectional Understandings of Latino Feminist Masculinities (University of Texas Press, forthcoming), focuses on the struggles and successes of young Latino men as they navigate the halls of higher education.

From Microaggressions to Community Cultural Wealth: Insights for Intellectually Engaging Latina/o University Students

Marcos will share a framework that breaks down the ways in which race shapes the schooling experiences of many Latina/o students, deconstructing racial microaggressions and racial battle fatigue.  As a counterpoint, Marcos maps out the resources and strengths that Latinas/os bring into the university and how this Community Cultural Wealth can be tapped into as a means toward college success.  The ultimate focus of the talk is to demonstrate the ways in which universities can engage Latina/o students and, in so doing, enhance the intellectual complexity of the university community.