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1. Getting on the Computing Faculty Pathway: A Perspective on Equity for Latinos

   Jones, F R; Mardis, M A; Randeree, E (September 2024, ACM CSE)

   Latinos are the largest minority group in the nation and major contributors to the middle-skilled STEM workforce. Although many of these positions require technical computing competencies, they typically do not require advanced degrees. This limited pathway means that most Latino students will never experience a Latino or Hispanic professor, much less stay in college long enough to become faculty members themselves. This degree stagnation presents equity imperatives for higher education leaders to embrace servingness and strategies to build authentic STEM identity and meaningful experiences for Latinos that lead to advanced degrees. 

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2. Arrebatos and institutionalized barriers encountered by low‐income Latino/a/x engineering students at Hispanic‐Serving Institutions ( HSIs ) and emerging HSIs

   https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20612  

   Escobar, Cristhian Fallas; Mejia, Joel Alejandro; Perez, Tess (October 2024, Journal of Engineering Education)

   Abstract BackgroundLatinos/as/xs continue to face many barriers as they pursue engineering degrees, including remedial placement, lack of access to well‐funded schools, and high poverty rates. We use the concept ofarrebatosto describe the internal reckoning that Latino/a/x engineering students experience through their journeys, particularly focusing on the impact of socioeconomic inequalities. PurposeTo bring counternarratives in engineering education research focusing on the experiences and lived realities of low‐income Latino/a/x engineering students. These counternarratives are an important step in interrogating systemic biases and exclusionary cultures, practices, and policies at HSIs and emerging HSIs and within engineering programs. MethodsPláticaswere conducted with 22 Latino/a/x engineering undergraduates from four different universities in the US Southwest. Thesepláticaswere coded and analyzed drawing from Anzaldúa's theoretical concept ofel arrebato. Special attention was given to participants'arrebatostriggered by their college experiences as low‐income individuals. ResultsAnalysis indicates that Latino/a/x engineering students' arrebatosarise from events that shake up the foundation of their own identity, including an institutional lack of sociopolitical consciousness. This lack of consciousness becomes evident not only in individuals' attitudes toward these students but also in institutional policies that put them at a further disadvantage. ConclusionsFindings have implications for engineering programs, particularly at HSIs and emerging HSIs regarding the creation of policies and practices that aim to secure the retention of low‐income Latino/a/x engineering students and alleviate the systemic barrier they face by affirming the practice of servingness. 

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3. NSF INCLUDES Conference: Advancing the Collective Impact of Retention and Continuation Strategies for Hispanics and Other Underrepresented Minorities in STEM Fields: Conference Proceedings

   Zatz, Marjorie S.; Gates, Ann Q.; Santiago, Deborah (July 2017, NSF INCLUDES Conference: Advancing the Collective Impact of Retention and Continuation Strategies for Hispanics and Other Underrepresented Minorities in STEM Fields:)

   The 2017 NSF INCLUDES “Conference to Advance the Collective Impact of Retention and Continuation Strategies for Hispanics and Other Underrepresented Minorities in STEM Fields” was held at the Kellogg Conference Center on the Gallaudet University campus in Washington, D.C., on March 6-8th, 2017. The conference brought together 74 researchers, higher education administrators, industry representatives, members of professional societies, and other community members from regions across the United States. Participants shared their experiences and expertise in broadening participation in STEM fields and in identifying strategies to improve outcomes for Hispanics, women, and other underrepresented groups in STEM fields. Panels focused on lessons learned about collective impact, the K-12 pipeline to college and the importance of community, Latino student success in two-year institutions, increasing Latino retention in undergraduate STEM programs, recruitment of highly competitive Latinos and other underrepresented minorities into graduate schools and strategies for successful completion of graduate studies, and industry partnerships to identify a diverse workforce. Panel and keynote presentations focused on evidence-based knowledge, leveraging findings from disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields and from differing types of institutions and educational levels to determine whether strategies identified can yield large-scale progress towards INCLUDES goals. In addition, small breakout sessions offered opportunities for attendees to share their ideas on (1) lessons learned from collective impact projects; (2) obstacles confronting students at various points and in different sectors of the education, career, and industry STEM pathways; and (3) best practices for overcoming barriers and ensuring that the strategies identified would be successful in different contexts. 

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4. Environmental Health Threats to Latino Migrant Farmworkers

   https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-012420-105014  

   Castillo, Federico; Mora, Ana M.; Kayser, Georgia L.; Vanos, Jennifer; Hyland, Carly; Yang, Audrey R.; Eskenazi, Brenda (April 2021, Annual Review of Public Health)

   null (Ed.)

   Approximately 75% of farmworkers in the United States are Latino migrants, and about 50% of hired farmworkers do not have authorization to work in the United States. Farmworkers face numerous chemical, physical, and biological threats to their health. The adverse effects of these hazards may be amplified among Latino migrant farmworkers, who are concurrently exposed to various psychosocial stressors. Factors such as documentation status, potential lack of authorization to work in the United States, and language and cultural barriers may also prevent Latino migrants from accessing federal aid, legal assistance, and health programs. These environmental, occupational, and social hazards may further exacerbate existing health disparities among US Latinos. This population is also likely to be disproportionately impacted by emerging threats, including climate change and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Latino migrant farmworkers are essential to agriculture in the United States, and actions are needed to protect this vulnerable population. 

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5. State Bans on Affirmative Action and Talent Loss among Blacks and Latinos in the United States

   https://doi.org/10.1525/esr.2020.43.2.58  

   Lutz, Amy; Bennett, Pamela R.; Wang, Rebecca (January 2020, Ethnic studies review)

   null (Ed.)

   Althoughaffirmativeactionincollegeadmissionsisconstitutionallypermissible,several states prohibit it. We investigate whether bans push black and Latino students fro m in-state public selective colleges to other types of postsecondary institutions, thus contributing to talent loss among these groups. Unlike most other studies, we analyze national data (the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009) so that we can follow students across state lines. We find no evidence that students from ban states shift from one type of selective college to another; that is, from in-state public flagships to in-state private ones or selective colleges in other states. However, the odds of attending a nonselective college, instead of an in-state public selective college, are al most three times higher among blacks and Latinos in ban states compared with their counterparts in states without bans. We argue that bans on affirmative action may contribute to talent loss among black and Latino students. 

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