Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information on Handbook of U.S. Latino Psychology

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Hispanic Higher Education
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sánchez, B.
Right arrow Articles by Singh, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Makin’ It in College

The Value of Significant Individuals in the Lives of Mexican American Adolescents

Bernadette Sánchez

DePaul University, bsanchez{at}depaul.edu

Olga Reyes

University of Illinois, olga{at}uic.edu

Joshua Singh

DePaul University

Using a social capital framework, the aim of this study was to examine the role of significant relationships in the academic experiences of Mexican American college students. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 students and 12 of the individuals in their lives who were considered important sources of support. Grounded theory was used to analyze data and various steps, such as member-checking, were taken to enhance the credibility of findings. Parents, peers, siblings, extended family members, and unrelated adults supported these students academically. Parents were the most frequently cited sources of support and played a significant role in motivating students in their education. However, because parents’ relatively low educational status limited the kind of support they could provide, students also benefited from nonparental sources of support. There were five forms of support (e.g., emotional support, cognitive guidance) used to guide students in eight aspects of school life (e.g., college application process, classes). Implications for education and support programs are discussed.

Key Words: Latino/a • Mexican American • adolescents • social support • social capital • academic achievement

Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, Vol. 5, No. 1, 48-67 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1538192705282570
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?