An assessment of the factors that increase the likeliness of Hispanics students to attend higher education

• Main Authors: Chavez Reyes, Denise Alexandra, Uddin, Mohammad Moin, Dr.
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2018
• Subjects: Higher education; grit; hardiness; motivation to lead; Hispanics; Higher Education; Other Engineering
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/asrf/2018/schedule/20

By 2043, its projected that there will not be one single racial or ethnic group that would dominate the minority group (Tennessee Higher Education Commission, 2016). However, the number of Hispanics grew 230% from 2000 to 2014, representing an 8.6% of the national's youth (Tennessee Higher Education Commission, 2016). Hispanic population in states like California, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona constitutes more than 30% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016). However, in Tennessee, it only constitutes a 5.20%. Going further, in the Tri-Cities it constitutes a 2.34% of the population. Since states with larger Hispanic communities can provide a variety of resources, experiences, and support organization that a state with a small percentage might not consider in providing or may not be able to provide, this research tries to identify what factors influence individuals' decision to go to higher education. By doing so, we will be able to identify the areas that need more attention to better serve the population. To get this information, we obtained IRB approval to send our survey to ETSU Hispanic students. It is expected to see that the students whose parents have obtain an education past high school will be more encouraged to attend to higher education, than those whose parents earned less than a high school diploma. It is also expected to find that the student’s grit, hardiness, and motivation to lead will vary according to the grades that the students had in the United States, finally it is expected to find that students’ grit, hardiness, and motivation to lead will depend on whether or not they are a first generation student.