Congratulations go out to Daisy Santana who successfully defended her Master's Thesis. Daisy's Master's Thesis is titled "The Decision-Making Process of Latine Students Attending Graduate School". Daisy is advised by Dr. Theresa Morris; her committee members are Dr. Nancy Plankey-Videla and Dr. Cynthia Bouton (Department of History).
Latine students are not likely to attend graduate school. Only 10 percent of Latine graduate students ultimately earn doctorate degrees, due to factors such as college affordability, social class, academic barriers, and family collective decisions or familismo (Pew Research Center). Familismo is the term used in Latine culture to refer to a profound attachment with family members where the individual focuses on the family over individual interests (Espinoza 2010:318). One of the collectivist decisions in Latine families is the college choice of Latine students. To understand the college choice decision-making process of graduate students, Santana's thesis examines the cultural values of Latine families. Specifically, Daisy Santana examines how familismo contributes to the decision-making of attending graduate school, and does familismo differ by gender? Daisy collected the data via Qualtrics software and, in addition, conducted Zoom interviews with 30 Latine graduate students. All 30 participants expressed how their families contributed to their decision-making. Latina women shared how they feel they need to help their family financially and emotionally and be physically present with their family members. While Latino men feel the responsibility to help financially, be the providers of the family. Exploring the factors for Latine students leaving home helped to understand the decision-making process to attend graduate school. It can help universities create programs to prepare students and their families for a graduate career and build better policies for Latine graduate students entering graduate and professional school.
Congratulations, Daisy, on earning your Master's degree!