Chicanas and Chicanos are more likely than any other doctorate
recipients to have initially attended a community college,
according to a policy brief released by the UCLA Chicano Studies
Research Center last month.
According to the report, while only 10 percent of overall U.S.
doctorates first attended community college, 23 percent of Chicano
doctorates have begun their postsecondary education at community
colleges. This rate is more than twice than that of blacks and
whites, and much higher than that of other Latino groups.
But Chicanos are the most underrepresented population within
doctorate production in the United States. From 1990 to 2000, the
rate of doctorate production for Chicanos and Chicanas has
increased slowly to just under 2 percent of overall female and male
doctoral recipients in their age cohort. The age cohort represents
the median age at which a doctorate is awarded, which is around 30
to 34 years old.
“Many community college students value giving back to the
community as they see it in such fields as social services,”
said Daniel Solórzano, UCLA professor of education and
associate director of the Chicano Studies Research Center.
The report claims to be the first attempt to expose this
discreet path to graduate school for Chicana and Chicano
students.
Many Chicana/os who attended community college on the way to
receiving doctorates are more likely to be in the broad fields of
social sciences and education than their non-community college
counterparts. While nearly half of Chicana/os who did not attend
community college will enter these two broad fields, almost
two-thirds who first attend community college will do so. Forty
percent of community college doctorates are in the field of
education.
However, the lack of opportunities available for research in
other fields due to community colleges’ limited resources and
connections could be another reason for this statistic,
Solórzano said.
“It is imperative that the community colleges and
four-year institutions bridge the opportunity gap by creating
partnerships based on research,” Solórzano said.
Seventy-one percent of Latina/o students who enter a community
college desire to transfer to a four-year institution, but only 7
percent to 20 percent end up doing so.
Solórzano says this is not a characteristic unique to a
particular ethnicity.
“Apparently, community colleges are structurally designed
to dampen students’ aspirations,” he said.
In 1960, UCLA professor Burton Clark described the
“cooling-out function,” which suggested that the
community college plays an active role in suppressing the
aspirations of students and steering them away from a baccalaureate
degree.
Both Clark’s and Solórzano’s studies suggest
the importance of transfer programs in community colleges.
“Often, the curriculum in community colleges is not
compatible with that of four-year institutions, and students become
frustrated when they cannot transfer units. It is important that
community colleges and four-year institutions work together so they
can help accommodate those who wish to transfer and pursue their
doctorates,” Solórzano said.
The report also suggests the importance of a “transfer
culture,” which would “involve leadership on behalf of
the faculty and staff in community colleges to encourage and
motivate community college students to transfer and pursue their
doctorates,” Solórzano said. He believes a partnership
based on research between community colleges and four-year
universities is essential to help create a culture that keeps
aspirations alive.
Another suggestion offered in the brief is more training
programs at community colleges to help prepare students for careers
in research.
“If students have the ability and opportunity to perform
research throughout their college careers, the results would be
two-fold; they would be contributing to the knowledge base, but
also receive payment that can cover tuition,” Solórzano
said.
Some programs that Solórzano and the brief suggest
currently exist at UCLA, such as the Academic Advancement Program
and the Center for Community College Partnerships, which helps
assist transfer students. Outreach programs for high school
students that encourage doctorate pursuit include the Puente
writing program and the Institute for Democracy, Education and
Access.
“Only a handful of community colleges have these programs
available for students, however, and it is imperative that more of
these colleges have the funding and resources to provide such
opportunities to students,” Solórzano said.
“Unfortunately, programs like these are the first to lose
funding when there are budget cuts,” he added.