INFLUENCES ON HISPANIC-AMERICAN ACADEMIC FACTORS: A SELF-DETERMINED AND SYSTEMS ORIENTED ISSUE

Abstract

Recent findings reveal that Hispanic-American high school students graduate at a rate 30% lower than Caucasian students. This study examined the influence of Hispanic cultural values, acculturation and familial factors on academic motivation, academic success and college going beliefs while conceptualizing the influences from an ecological systems perspective. Linear regression and mediation analyses were used to test two models. Results indicated that familial factors were significantly correlated with college going beliefs. Socioeconomic status as well as maternal educational attainment was significantly correlated with academic success and college going beliefs, respectively, and intrinsic academic motivation was found to mediate both of the aforementioned regressions. These findings support the feasibility of using a systems oriented approach to study how pertinent cultural and familial factors influence academic outcomes in Hispanic-American students.