Where do Latinas and Latinos earn social science doctorates?

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.28.4889

Keywords:

Hispanic Serving Institutions, Community Colleges, Graduate Education, Latinx, Hispanic

Abstract

It is a national imperative to increase the percentage of Latinas and Latinos who earn doctorate degrees in the social sciences and who enter into faculty positions. For the purposes of this study, I focus on whether Latinas and Latinos earned their doctorates at the nation’s most research-intensive universities because those schools are uniquely equipped to prepare doctoral students for careers in academia. I find that more than 40% of Latinas and Latinos who earned social science doctorates did so at universities with lower research profiles. I also test whether there are relationships between Latinas’ and Latino’s undergraduate institutions (e.g., community colleges and Hispanic Serving Institutions) and doctoral universities (classified by research-intensity). I did not find a relationship between attending community college and the type of university where a Latina or Latino social scientist earned the PhD. However, I found that Latinas and Latinos who earned baccalaureate degrees from Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) had higher relative risk of earning doctorates from less research-intensive universities. This institutional pathway may be beneficial for increasing the number of Latinas and Latinos who earn social science doctorate degrees; however, it may be problematic for preparing future faculty members. I discuss implications for supporting the Latina-Latino pathway to the PhD.

 

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Author Biography

Frank Fernandez, The University of Mississippi

Frank Fernandez is Assistant Professor of Higher Education at The University of Mississippi.  He studies educational policy and equity issues.

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Published

2020-06-29

How to Cite

Fernandez, F. (2020). Where do Latinas and Latinos earn social science doctorates?. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 28, 97. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.28.4889

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Articles