Latin American students

Excelencia in Education (2016) reported that 21% of traditional age college male students were Latino males, second only to White males. The report further noted that Latino males are ranked the lowest in degree attainment – of whom only 20% have earned an associate’s degree or higher (Excelencia in Education, 2016). As an insufficient number of Latino males are graduating with post-secondary degrees, more research must be conducted to explore their educational journey from the community college to the university and how to best support them through their transition. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative narrative research study was to explore the stories of Latino male students as they transfer from a community college to a university. To capture the essence of Latino male students’ stories through the community college transfer experience to university, the research questions focused on what motivated and influenced their journey through the community college to a university. The research questions that guided this study were: What motivated and influenced Latino males’ decisions to enroll in a community college? What motivated and influenced Latino males’ decisions to transfer from a community college to a university? How do Latino male transfer students describe their transition from community college to a university? In this qualitative narrative research study, 10 participants participated in in-depth, semi-structured virtual interviews and completed two journal prompts. To assist in triangulation and validity, participants reviewed the data for accuracy, and thick rich descriptions were used to provide breadth and depth to their narratives. Once the data were collected, it was organized through the qualitative research data management software MAXQDA and analyzed using in vivo, descriptive, and pattern coding. The conceptual frameworks that informed this narrative study were the hero’s journey by Joseph Campbell (2008) and transition theory by Nancy K. Schlossberg (2011).