Francisco Gaytan, Assistant Professor of Social Work, discussed his research in the role of social support and social capital in the academic development of Mexican-American youth in New York City. The faculty discussion took place Wednesday, Nov. 11 and was sponsored by NEIU’s Psychology Department.
The research was motivated by the realization that the 2002 U.S. Census brought: 50.6 percent of people of Mexican descent in the U.S. graduated from high school while only 5.6 percent completed college. Gaytan conducted research in NYC due to the large growing numbers of Mexican students in public schools and because of the lack of empirical research with Mexican students in that region. Gaytan first explained the Mexican family dynamic as typically consisting of two-parent households with positive attitudes toward education and high aspirations for children’s academic success.
Gaytan then discussed the barriers that immigrant families face because they are unable to provide concrete tools to help their children attain academic success. The barriers that were presented included language, culture, financial support, support from society, lack of resources, segregated institutions and even legal status.
Gaytan went on to give several theories that could help explain the low numbers of Mexican students in college. He focused most on the ecological theory, which concerns the interdependence of people and institutions. He also discussed the social learning theory, which emphasizes the fact that people learn from one another by observational learning, imitation and modeling.
“So if you have access to a lot of college educated people that speak English who also have access to powerful people, you will probably do better in school. If you don’t have access to those individuals, you probably won’t do so well,” further explained Gaytan.
In his research, Gaytan asked open-ended questions through surveys administered to 107 Mexican public school students in NYC. The results showed the majority of students depended on their parents instead of the “powerful non-relative adults” for help with homework or studying for exams. Most sought support, help and encouragement from their parents.
“So you have a lot of students who receive homework help from an unreliable source, because parents are unable to give concrete resources to help their children educationally,” stated Gaytan.
Other information that was found concerned the lack of encouragement or help from peers or non-relative adults, such as teachers, principals and friends. Gaytan also mentioned how students reported that teachers and faculty were often discriminatory towards them.
“When teachers give the class, I don’t understand or I struggle and I have to learn it myself because the teachers say, ‘I already said this. I’m not repeating myself,’ and then I have to do it myself,” shared one student in the surveys. Gaytan concluded the talk by stating how his research shows the lack of concrete resources, tools and support from teachers may be a factor that has led Mexican American students astray from pursuing college and achieving academic success.