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Journal of HispanicHigher Education

Volume XX Number XMonth XXXX xx-xx

© 2008 Sage Publications10.1177/1538192708326391

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Modeling the Effects ofDiversity Experiences andMultiple Capitals on Latina/oCollege Students’ AcademicSelf-ConfidenceAnne-Marie NúñezUniversity of Texas, at San Antonio

Abstract: This study develops a model predicting academic self-confidence for 2nd-yearLatina/o college students. Findings indicate that forms of academic, cultural, social,and intercultural capital (the capacity to negotiate diverse racial and ethnic environ-ments) are positively associated with academic self-confidence. The prevalence ofnegative cross-racial interactions is negatively associated with academic self-confidence.The study’s results suggest policy and programming implications to support the devel-opment of Latina/o students’ academic self-confidence.

Resumen: Este estudio desarrolla un modelo para predecir confianza académica propiaen estudiantes universitarios latinas/os de segundo año. Hallazgos indican que formasde capital académico, cultural, social, e intercultural (la capacidad de negociarambientes diversos raciales y étnicos) están asociadas positivamente con confianzaacadémica propia. La prevalencia de interacciones negativas entre razas está asociadanegativamente con confianza académica propia. Los resultados del estudio sugierenimplicaciones políticas y de programación para desarrollar la confianza académica delos estudiantes latinas/os.

Keywords: Latino; Hispanic; diversity; social capital; cultural capital; campusclimate; academic self-confidence; structural equation modeling

Latinas/os have become the largest population of color in the United States, yetthey have the lowest educational attainment rates among any racial or ethnic

group in the United States (Fry, 2002; U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). Latina/o collegestudents also have among the lowest college completion rates (Astin & Oseguera,2003; Fry, 2002). Population projections indicate that Latinas/os will make up themajority of the growth of the youth and college-aged population in the comingdecades and, by 2050, will make up 30% of the country’s population (Martínez,2002; U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). Thus, finding ways to increase their bachelor’sdegree attainment rates is important not only for improving the well-being of

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Latinas/os but for sustaining and improving the social and economic conditions ofthe United States.

Most Latina/o college students are enrolled in public institutions (Stearns &Satoshi, 2002), and Latina/o students who begin college at 4-year institutions aremore likely to complete their degrees than their community college counterparts(Arbona & Nora, 2007). Therefore, 4-year public institutions serve as critical gate-ways for Latinas/os to earn bachelor’s degrees in the United States. However, littleis known about the experiences of Latina/o college students in 4-year institutions(Nora, Barlow, & Crisp, 2006). More needs to be understood about how to improveLatina/o retention rates in these kinds of institutions.

Decades of research suggest that academic self-confidence is the strongestnoncognitive predictor of college retention (Lotkowski, Robbins, & Noeth, 2004).However, Latina/o students tend to report lower levels of confidence in their intel-lectual abilities than members of other racial and ethnic groups (Longerbeam,Sedlacek, & Alatorre, 2004; Sáenz & Chang, 2004), which suggests that lower aca-demic self-confidence could hinder their retention. Self-doubt, isolation, exposure tonegative racial and ethnic stereotypes or discrimination, and lack of mentoring pre-sent particular difficulties for Latina/o students and are associated with decreasedconfidence in their academic ability (Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Hurtado, Carter, &Spuler, 1996; Smedley, Myers, & Harrell, 1993).

The institutional climate concerning diversity also can affect Latina/o students’academic self-confidence (Hurtado & Ponjuán, 2005). Bans on affirmative action incertain states’ 4-year public university systems can send institutional messages toLatina/o students that they are not qualified for or welcome in selective public uni-versities (Brown & Hirschman, 2006; Solórzano & Villalpando, 1998). These con-ditions may exacerbate how Latina/o students experience racial and ethnicstereotyping (Solórzano & Villalpando, 1998). In light of these policy conditions andtheir implications for Latina/o students’ academic self-confidence in public univer-sities, this study develops and tests a model of factors that affect the academic self-confidence of Latina/o students in public 4-year research universities.

Conceptual Framework

The relationships between diversity-related cultural experiences and critical col-lege outcomes such as academic self-confidence remain underexamined, in particu-lar for Latina/o students (Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pedersen, & Allen, 1999;Hurtado & Ponjuán, 2005; Rendón, Jalomo, & Nora, 2000). The research suggeststhat structural factors (such as climate concerning diversity) as well as individualfactors (such as one’s perceptions of one’s own ability) must be taken into accountwhen understanding predictors of Latina/o students’ academic self-confidence(Walpole, 2007). Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s (1986) framework of multiple capitals

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provides a way of addressing the role of structural and individual resources in affect-ing academic self-confidence.

From a Bourdieuian perspective, capital is defined as any resource that studentsemploy to improve their social status (Harker, Mahar, & Wilkes, 1990). A focus oncapitals therefore highlights how various resources affect students in attaining edu-cational outcomes and how institutions can support students through offering accessto these resources. Access to precollege academic preparation (or academic capital;Cabrera & La Nasa, 2001), financial capital (St. John, Musoba, & Simmons, 2003),cultural capital (access to information not formally communicated in schools thatmay be helpful in making educational choices; McDonough, 1997), and social cap-ital (access to social networks that proffer encouragement and advice in making edu-cational decisions; Perna, 2000; Stanton-Salazar, 2001, 2004) has been found tohave significant, independent associations with various dimensions of college atten-dance.

Because access to academic and financial capital has been unable to fully accountfor racial and ethnic gaps in educational outcomes, the effects of cultural and socialcapital on educational attainment have also been studied with respect to topics likehigh school achievement and college choice (e.g., McDonough, 1997; Perna, 2000;Stanton-Salazar, 2001, 2004). In fact, Perna (2000) found that measures of culturaland social capital, such as encouragement and advice from high school staff whenconsidering and applying to college, were “as important as academic ability”(p. 136) in a model predicting enrollment in 4-year colleges for Latinas/os. Despitethe promise of these constructs, few studies have addressed how cultural and socialcapital affect Latina/o students’ outcomes after college enrollment, although thereare implications that these factors influence college outcomes related to transitionand retention, such as academic self-confidence (Berger, 2000).

Research indicates that other cultural resources also support Latina/ostudents’ academic self-confidence. Racial and ethnic compositional, curricular, andco-curricular diversity characteristics and activities can contribute to positive cogni-tive and affective outcomes in college, including increased learning and satisfactionoutcomes (Gurin, 1999; Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, & Gurin, 2002; Hu & Kuh, 2003;Hurtado & Ponjuán, 2005; Milem, Chang, & Antonio, 2005). These resources canpromote effective participation in racially and ethnically diverse environments, avalued workplace skill. Such resources can provide Latina/o students with opportu-nities to affirm their cultural backgrounds and challenge racist, exclusionary institu-tional norms (Solórzano & Villalpando, 1998; Villalpando, 2003). They may supportLatina/o students in challenging “stereotype threat”—negative stereotypes abouttheir academic ability (Steele, 1997)—and, in turn, increase Latina/o students’ aca-demic self-confidence.

In this study, I conceptualize such resources as intercultural capital, drawing onTanaka’s (2003) work about building an intercultural campus climate as involving“an approach to learning and sharing across cultures where no culture dominates”

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(p. 16). This concept articulates the ideal notion of an environment where diversestudents can learn without being marginalized on the basis of any social category. Assuch, intercultural capital is defined as any resource enhancing students’ capacity tobe aware of their own social identity in relation to others, to interact constructivelywith diverse others, and/or to challenge exclusionary practices and privilege.

The effects of racial or ethnic exclusion, which this study terms marginalizingexperiences, must also be considered; marginalizing experiences have been shown tonegatively and independently predict outcomes related to academic self-confidence(Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Hurtado et al., 1996; Smedley et al., 1993). Covert andovert experiences of discrimination, isolation, and/or feeling ignored in college cannegatively influence not only Latina/o students’ academic self-confidence but theircapacity to connect with the university (Smedley et al., 1993). Moreover, vulnera-bility to stereotype threat (Steele, 1997) has been found to be a negative predictorof first-term college grades among Latina/o students at highly selective public andprivate universities (Massey, Charles, Lundy, & Fischer, 2003).

In addition to college experiences, precollege characteristics such as demographicbackground, family, and school factors must also be taken into account. The tempo-ral dimension of a Bourdieuian framework stipulates that students acquire or engagein different stages of capital accumulation and investment as they progress from highschool to college: (a) Capital Endowment, or the student’s background characteris-tics; (b) Past High School Accumulation, or the student’s high school experiences;(c) Anticipated Capital Conversion, or the student’s expectations for maximizing cap-ital during college; and (d) Capital Conversion and Investments, or the student’sactual time investments in college activities (McDonough, Antonio, & Horvat, 1996;Walpole, 2003). To attain outcomes such as academic self-confidence, students accu-mulate more of the same forms of capital, or convert one form of capital to another.

The purpose of this study was to develop a model predicting 2nd-year Latina/ostudents’ academic self-confidence at public research universities. Three questionswere addressed: (a) What forms of academic, cultural, financial, social, and inter-cultural capital predict academic self-confidence for 2nd-year Latina/o students?(b) To what level do marginalizing experiences affect academic self-confidence forthese students? and (c) Does access to intercultural capital negatively affect theprevalence of marginalizing experiences?

Method

This research employed structural equation modeling (SEM). SEM enables theanalyst to simultaneously examine indirect and direct relationships among differentvariables and can also be used to provide an assessment of the extent to which a setof proposed relationships (a model) actually fits the data (Bentler, 2005; Ullman,2001). SEM holds several advantages for this study. First, it takes into account the

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measurement error of variables in the model when assessing the effects of the pre-dictors on the dependent variables. Second, SEM can reveal indirect and direct rela-tionships among different variables, in addition to their associations with thedependent variable. Thus, I could examine whether taking a diversity curriculum hada negative effect on marginalizing experiences at the same time that I measured itseffect on academic self-confidence, something that would not have been possiblewith typical multiple regression approaches. Third, this method can indicate ahypothesized model’s overall fit with the relationships in the actual data (Bentler,2005; Ullman, 2001). Therefore, I could determine the extent to which the relation-ships between variables in my structural model aligned with the relationshipsbetween variables in these data.

Data Source

The Diverse Democracy Project Study, a longitudinal data set examining experi-ences affecting students’ cognitive and affective outcomes related to their capacity toparticipate as citizens in an increasingly diverse democratic society (Hurtado,2003b), was used as a secondary data set for the analysis. Entering students at nine4-year U.S. public research institutions were surveyed about demographic charac-teristics, high school experiences, college expectations, attitudes about social issues,and anticipated behaviors during their 1st year (2000), and again about their collegeexperiences during their 2nd year (2002). The nine campuses varied by geographicregion, size of the student body (5,000 to 20,000 undergraduates), and student bodyracial and ethnic composition (5% to 39% students of color) (Hurtado, 2003b).

There were 13,520 respondents to the survey in the 1st year, a 36% response rate;among these, 4,403 students responded again in the 2nd year, for a 35% responserate. This study’s sample includes all of the Latina/o students drawn from the largerand more diverse sample, representing a total of 362 students. Although the responserate is relatively low, it reflects the unavoidable challenges of conducting longitudi-nal research with minority populations in large public research universities, as wellas tracking students who are highly mobile and have limited time to complete sur-veys (Hurtado, 2003b). Sample weights were developed to adjust for this nonre-sponse bias (Hurtado, 2003b; Hurtado & Ponjuán, 2005).

Dependent Variable

The dependent variable for academic self-confidence was a single item measure,self-rated academic ability. In the first and second surveys, this parameter was mea-sured by the question, “How would you currently rate yourself in academic ability?”and weighted on a 5-point scale from 1 (a major weakness) to 5 (a major strength).Academic self-confidence was measured self-referentially, rather than in comparisonto other students, to allow respondents to view their academic ability broadly, rather

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than within particular domains that might not be relevant to their area of study(Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005).

Independent Variables

Parental education level, a Capital Endowment composite variable of bothparents’ educational levels, represented cultural capital. This variable was based onresearch suggesting that educated parents provide their children with more helpfulinformation (e.g., how to choose the most appropriate colleges, how to effectivelyengage in the college community; McDonough, 1997). The variable was scaled from1 (some high school) to 7 (doctorate or professional degree).

Self-rated academic ability, collected in the first time point of data collection,served as a pretest from the Past High School Accumulation characteristics. Thequestion was phrased the same way as the question for the dependent variable.

The rest of the data were collected in the second time point of the survey. Hoursper week studying represented academic capital in the Capital Conversion andInvestment characteristics. Answers for this variable ranged from 1 (0 hours) to 6(over 20 hours). Faculty interest, the student’s self-reported level of agreement withthe statement, “At least one faculty member has taken an interest in my develop-ment,” was conceptualized as cultural capital because it was presumed to reflect howmuch the student felt that a faculty member had provided him or her with usefulinformation on approaching academic work in college. This variable was measuredon a scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree).

Social capital was represented by the measure of how often the student reportedparticipating in class discussion during the 1st and 2nd years, as a level of involve-ment in classroom activities might heighten students’ capacity to connect with fac-ulty and peer social networks. This variable was measured on a scale ranging from1 (never) to 5 (very often).

Intercultural capital was represented by the diversity curriculum factor (Hurtado,2003a) and incorporated three measures: the extent to which the student reportedhaving taken classes with material or readings on (a) class, (b) ethnicity, or (c) gen-der. This variable was measured by the following scale: 1 = none, 2 = one, 3 = two,and 4 = three or more.

Marginalizing experiences were represented by a cross-racial interactions of anegative quality factor (Hurtado, 2003a). This latent variable incorporated threemeasures: the extent to which the student reported (a) having had tense interactionswith students from a different racial or ethnic group other than his or her own,(b) having felt insulted or threatened on the basis of his or her race or ethnicity, and(c) having had guarded and cautious interactions with students from another racialor ethnic group. This variable was measured on a scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5(very often). Table 1 indicates descriptive statistics for these variables, includingmeans and standard deviations.

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Analysis

SEM, using EQS 6.0 software, was employed to model errors resulting from theconstruction of latent variables and to reveal indirect as well as direct effects(Bentler, 2005). SEM generates an estimated population covariance matrix (i.e., howvariables co-vary, or statistically interrelate, with each other) from a theoreticalmodel, which is then compared to the original sample covariance matrix. Basicindices of model fit, including the chi-square significance test, the comparative fitindex (CFI), and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), were usedto assess the degree of model fit with the actual data. Values at or above .9 for theCFI and less than .08 for the RMSEA suggest good congruence (Ullman, 2001). TheLagrange Multiplier test procedure was conducted to refine the structural modeldevelopment by identifying the relationships between variables that would con-tribute to the best-fitting model (Bentler, 2005).

The parameter estimates and decomposition of the total effects for the variablesin the structural model were then examined to account for the direct and indirect

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Table 1Descriptive Statistics on Key Characteristics

Variable M SD

Dependent variableSelf-rating: academic ability (Time 2) 3.93 .75

Capital endowmentCultural capital

Composite parental education level 8.69 2.46Past high school accumulation

Academic capitalSelf-rated academic ability (Time 1) 4.11 .68

Capital conversionAcademic capital

Hours per week studying 3.88 1.28Cultural capital

At least one faculty member taken interest in my development 2.84 1.03Social capital

Participate in class discussion 3.69 1.08Intercultural capital

Number courses included materials on race and ethnicity issues 2.68 2.68Number courses included materials on gender issues 2.43 1.09Number courses included materials on issues of oppression 2.49 2.50

Marginalizing experiencesTense/somewhat hostile interactions 1.63 .88Felt insulted/threatened based on race or ethnicity 1.57 .84Had guarded, cautious interactions 1.97 1.08

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effects of the predictor variables on the outcome variable. The resulting adequacy ofmodel fit allowed other questions to be investigated, including the significance, mag-nitude, and directionality of effects of predictor variables on the outcome variable,the effects of independent variables on each other, and the indirect effects ofindependent variables on the outcome (Ullman, 2001).

Results

Before testing the proposed structural model, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)was conducted to establish that the latent variables held as reliable constructs. Once theCFA confirmed that the latent variables were sound, the analysis of the full structuralmodel proceeded. Figure 1 shows the relationships between the latent and observedvariables in the full structural model for Latinas/os, including the standardized coeffi-cients for each of the direct effects in the model. Table 2 illustrates the direct effects ofthe latent constructs predicting observed variables in the same model.

Table 3 provides the parameter estimates, with standardized coefficients and corre-sponding significance tests, for the direct and indirect effects in the model. The analy-ses of the fit indices indicate that the model fits well with the data: Satorra-Bentler

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Self-ratedacademic

ability (Time 2)

Negativecross-racial

interactions

Facultyinterest

Self-ratedacademic ability

(Time 1)

Classdiscussion

Hours/weekstudying

ParentalEducation

.243***

.258***

.206***

.Diversitycurriculum –.204**

.152**

.033

.334***

.164*

.200**

.161**

.074

Figure 1Latinas/os’ Academic Self-Confidence Structural Model Results

Note: N = 362. Satorra-Bentler chi-square = 79.209 (49 df); comparative fit index = .955; root meansquare error of approximation = .041. Factors are represented by circles and single-indicator variables bysquares. Errors, disturbances, and observed variables corresponding to latent constructs are not shown infigure due to space limitations.*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

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chi-square = 79.209 (df = 49, n = 313); p < .01; CFI = .955; and RMSEA = .041. Themodel accounted for 24.4% of the variance in the dependent variable. These resultsindicate that this model plausibly portrays various factors affecting Latina/ostudents’ academic self-confidence.

It is not surprising that self-rated academic ability (Time 1) is among the strongestpositive predictors of self-rated academic ability (Time 2). Hours per week studyingand faculty interest are also relatively strong positive predictors. The frequency ofnegative cross-racial interactions is inversely related to academic self-confidence inthe 2nd year.

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Table 2Direct Effects of the Latent Constructs Predicting Observed Variables in the

Academic Self-Concept Structural Model

Direct Effects of Construct on: b β

Negative cross-racial interactionsHad guarded, cautious interactions 1.02 .62Had tense, somewhat hostile interactions 1.00 .77Felt insulted or threatened based on my race or my ethnicity .78 .65

Diversity curriculumMaterial or readings on race and ethnicity issues 1.00 .81Material or readings on issues of oppression 1.07 .88Material or readings on gender issues .82 .65

Note: N = 362. All beta coefficients significant at p < .001 level.

Table 3Direct, Indirect, and Total Effects of the Academic Self-Confidence Structural

Model (standardized path coefficients)

Direct Indirect

Self-rated academic ability (Time 2) (R2 = .244)Self-rated academic ability (Time 1) .258***Hours per week studying .243***Faculty interest .206***Diversity curriculum .161** .030Negative cross-racial interactions –.204**

Parental education .042**Class discussion .041*

Note: N = 362.*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

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Diversity curriculum, an intercultural capital factor, is significantly correlatedwith self-rated academic ability (Time 2). This measure is also positively associatedwith faculty interest and with the student’s self-reported frequency of class partici-pation. In other words, the positive effect of taking a diversity curriculum on acade-mic self-confidence is enhanced by its positive relationship with faculty interest andthe student’s self-reported frequency of class participation.

Having a higher parental education level has a positive indirect effect onLatinas/os’ academic self-rating in the 2nd year. This indirect effect is mediated bythe positive relationship between having a higher parental education level and acad-emic self-confidence in the 1st year (the pretest variable). Participation in class dis-cussion positively and indirectly predicts self-rated academic ability in the 2nd year.Its effect is mediated by a positive relationship with perception of faculty interest.

The results do not support the hypothesis that access to intercultural capitaldirectly minimizes the prevalence of marginalizing experiences. Taking a diversitycurriculum is not significantly associated with a reduction in the frequency of nega-tive cross-racial interactions. Therefore, taking a diversity curriculum does notappear to affect the extent of these marginalizing experiences with academic self-confidence in the 2nd year.

Discussion

This study illuminates the interplay between types of capital and marginalizingexperiences in predicting Latina/o students’ academic self-confidence. Previousstudies on this topic used linear multiple regression techniques to examine the pre-dictors of Latina/o students’ early academic outcomes in college, including thoserelated to academic self-confidence (e.g., Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Hurtado et al.,1996; Hurtado & Ponjuán, 2005; Smedley et al., 1993). This study builds on the callto take this research one step further (Hurtado & Ponjuán, 2005) by testing a theorythat specifies certain relationships among independent variables, in addition to asso-ciations between the independent variables and the dependent variable.

This study’s results indicate that several variables during college, compared withonly one precollege variable (parental education level), are significantly associatedwith academic self-confidence. This finding is consistent with other research andsuggests that interventions that take place in college can critically affect Latina/ostudents’ academic self-confidence (Hurtado & Carter, 1997; Hurtado & Ponjuán,2005). This study’s results suggest many implications for which interventions mightbe most effective in boosting the academic self-confidence of Latina/o students.

Given that one third of this study’s institutions were directly affected by chal-lenges to or termination of affirmative action policies during the period of this study,higher education faculty and administrators, especially those at public 4-year insti-tutions, should note that marginalizing racial and ethnic experiences are adversely

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related to Latina/o students’ academic self-confidence. In political conditions whereaffirmative action is challenged, Latina/o students can feel academically unqualifiedto attend a 4-year research institution (Brown & Hirschman, 2006; Solórzano, Ceja,& Yosso, 2001; Solórzano & Villalpando, 1998). Such political contexts, on top ofthe documented effects of stereotype threat (Steele, 1997), might exacerbate nega-tive feelings of academic self-confidence.

Coming from a more highly educated family is positively associated with acade-mic self-rating in the 1st year. This finding complements other research indicatingthat first-generation and Latina/o college-going students from less well-educatedfamilies experience increased doubt about their own academic abilities (Rendón,1994; Richardson & Skinner, 1992; Terenzini et al., 1994). Students from less well-educated families can feel that they have limited cultural capital, such as under-standing of how to navigate college life. Addressing parental education level and itsinteraction with race appears to be critical for Latina/o students (Walpole, 2007).

Time spent studying appears particularly important in influencing Latina/ostudents’ academic self-confidence after the first 2 years of college, consistent withother research (Astin, 1993). It may positively influence Latina/o students’ academicself-confidence by allowing them to increase their academic involvement in college(Astin, 1993) and to build critical academic skills (i.e., academic capital). Studyingallows Latina/o students to increase their concentration on and investment in acade-mic success, which is particularly important given that Latina/o students tend to havemore work and home responsibilities that compete with studying (Longerbeam et al.,2004). Effort in studying may also be a strategy that some students use to disprovenegative racial stereotypes (Solórzano & Villalpando, 1998) or to compensate fortheir perceived lack of ability.

The value of meaningful faculty–student interactions in increasing academic self-confidence (Astin, 1993) seems clear for these students. Faculty interest may serveas cultural capital that helps college students become socialized to engage in theinstitutional and academic environment effectively. Because these students oftencome from high schools that offer less rigorous curricula (Oakes, Rogers, Lipton, &Morrell, 2002), having teacher support can help navigate challenging classes. Yet,Latina/o students may find faculty difficult to access in public universities’ largeenrollments. Any creative or cost-effective initiatives to promote meaningful fac-ulty–student interactions, such as counseling on how to approach faculty or informalgroup gatherings with faculty, can be particularly effective in enhancing Latina/ostudents’ academic self-confidence.

Positive relationships between diversity courses, a student’s perception that a fac-ulty member has taken an interest in his or her development, and a student’sincreased level of class participation indicate that these intercultural, cultural, andsocial factors directly enhance academic self-confidence for Latina/o students. It ispossible that diversity courses offer pedagogical approaches, socially relevant mate-rial, and interactive dialogue that stimulate Latina/o students’ connection with

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faculty and class participation. Moreover, the results suggest that intercultural capital,through its positive association with faculty interest and class participation, can be con-verted into more mainstream forms of cultural and social capital for Latina/o students.

Among Latina/o students, taking a diversity curriculum may also help attenuatefactors such as stereotype threat (Steele, 1997). Addressing diversity issues in theclassroom can expose Latina/o students to a more welcoming environment in whichto engage in class discussion, relatively free of negative stereotyping, with teacherswho may be faculty of color or faculty whose teaching style is particularly affirmingof students from diverse backgrounds (Villalpando, 2003). These classroom envi-ronments may also facilitate the formation of intellectual “counterspaces” in whichLatina/o students can affirm their cultural backgrounds and assets in the face of mar-ginalization and challenge systematized institutional racism (Gonzalez, 1999;Solórzano et al., 2001). Diversity classes can also raise consciousness about racismand sexism and reduce prejudice among all students (Chang, 2002; Henderson-King& Kaleta, 2000; Stake & Hoffman, 2001).

The research on diversity classes suggests that Latinas/os who take these classesexperience a more inclusive college environment. Yet, the results presented here alsoindicate that taking a diversity curriculum does not significantly reduce the frequencyof Latina/o students’ negative cross-racial interactions. Hurtado and Ponjuán (2005)have speculated that engagement in diversity classes engenders a more critical mind-set in Latina/o students toward cross-racial interactions, because taking these classescan raise students’ awareness of the existence of overt or covert discrimination.

Other empirical research indicates that although taking diversity classes mayimprove the racial and ethnic campus climate for Latinas/os, it may also increasetheir awareness about when that climate is not so positive. Núñez (in press) foundthat taking diversity classes increases Latina/o students’ positive cross-racial inter-actions (or access to intercultural capital), but it also increases their awareness thata campus climate is hostile toward diversity (or marginalizing experiences). Thestudy’s results also indicated that positive cross-racial interactions were positivelyassociated with sense of belonging and with perceptions that the campus climate ishostile toward diversity. These apparently contradictory findings indicate that evenif students experience a more inclusive environment, they may also experience agreater likelihood of perceiving or noticing negative cross-racial interactions. In thecontext of predicting academic self-confidence, these two contrasting possibilitiesmight “cancel out” a significant relationship between diversity curriculum (intercul-tural capital) and negative cross-racial interactions (marginalizing experiences).

Limitations

Several measures in the model were based on self-reported data. Although somestudies have questioned whether such data accurately represent students’ actual

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perceptions or behaviors, other research has indicated that self-reported data canserve as appropriate proxies when developing policies and programs (Ewell & Jones,1993). To address this limitation, institutional data on student background charac-teristics were incorporated in the sample weights and preliminary analyses.

Data on students’ countries of origin and preferred language were not collected inthis particular study. Other research indicates that there is variability among Latina/ostudents in terms of academic achievement with respect to their countries of origin,a condition that may relate to native language status (Baker, Keller-Wolff, & Wolf-Wendel, 2000; Portes & Rumbaut, 2001). Where possible, further research shouldaddress how country of origin and language use affect Latina/o students’ academicself-confidence.

Low survey response rates, a common problem in studies of minority studentpopulations, were accounted for in sample weighting using statistically valid tech-niques (Hurtado, 2003b; Kish, 1965), so that results could be generalized to the larger1st-year population of students in the participating universities. Finally, the limitednumber of institutions in the model design may limit the applicability of the resultsto all Latina/o students; however, this study is presented as a first approximationrather than a definitive view of the effects of capital on students’ post-enrollmentsuccess, and continuing research is necessary. Given that Latina/o students are over-represented in community colleges (Stearns & Satoshi, 2002), further work shouldaddress the institutional experiences of these students. In general, expanding thesample size of Latina/o students would enable more variables, pathways, and com-plex constructs to be tested, resulting in models of greater applicability.

Implications

This study has several implications for supporting the development of academicself-confidence among Latina/o students, especially those at public 4-year researchuniversities. The results indicate that diversity experiences are critical to under-standing Latina/o students’ academic self-confidence during the college transition.The current political climate only augments the importance of understanding the roleof diversity experiences and marginalizing conditions.

Political resistance to affirmative action in state public universities can shape aparticularly unwelcoming racial and ethnic campus climate for underrepresentedstudents of color and decrease their academic self-confidence, in particular whentheir academic abilities are called into question (Brown & Hirschman, 2006; Feagin,Vera, & Imani, 1996, 2002; Solórzano & Villalpando, 1998). Therefore, the idea ofpursuing full integration (Tinto, 1993) into a seemingly unwelcome or unsupportivecampus community may not be very appealing to Latina/o students or facilitate theirultimate success. As this study and prior research suggest, traditional predictorsof academic self-confidence may not fully apply to Latina/o students. If alternative

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factors contribute to their academic self-confidence, Latina/o students should beinvited to engage in the university on their own terms, rather than be expected to con-form to dominant cultural norms.

The findings suggest that, despite the precollege characteristics Latina/o studentsbring in, their college experiences are quite critical in shaping their academic self-confidence. Therefore, despite their lower self-confidence at entry, interventions canhave a powerful effect on contributing to the development of academic self-confi-dence. Such interventions include academic support programs that cultivate “talentdevelopment” (Astin, 1985) among Latina/o students (Hurtado, 2007; Hurtado &Ponjuán, 2005). An example of such a program is the Academic AdvancementProgram (AAP) at UCLA, where Latina/o students draw on peer, tutoring, and coun-seling support to navigate college coursework. AAP administers these services in itsown building, providing a space where Latina/o and other underrepresented studentscan congregate and build community outside of classes (Núñez, 2005b). The feder-ally funded TRIO Student Support Services programs also serve as examples of suchprograms (Walpole, 2007).

Living-learning communities, such as the Michigan Community ScholarsProgram, can also help students interact more productively across race and improvetheir academic and social outcomes (Schoem, 2005). Living in a diverse communityof faculty and students could contribute to fostering faculty–student interaction andbuilding academic self-confidence. It is important that all of these initiatives involveboth academic and student affairs units, and they stress the resources that Latina/ostudents bring with them to campus, rather than emphasizing students’ “deficits.”Higher education administrators and faculty working with Latina/o students couldadvise students to engage in such programs on their own campuses. If none are avail-able, administrators could also apply some of the successful dimensions of theseprograms to build similar initiatives at their own campuses.

The findings imply that policies or programs that promote academic, cultural,social, and intercultural capital during the early college years can confer positive ben-efits. Diversity initiatives, such as diversity curriculum requirements, can serve as aparticularly important way to promote racial and ethnic inclusion at public researchuniversities, especially while affirmative action policies are challenged. Most institu-tions in the study required all students to take diversity courses in some form, althoughthe faculty senate at one institution vetoed such an initiative (Navid, 2005). In any case,higher education administrators or faculty can advise Latina/o students to consider tak-ing diversity classes as a way of developing confidence, through connecting with fac-ulty who are also concerned with diversity issues in general and with supportingLatina/o students in particular. These faculty can use culturally responsive and engag-ing pedagogies that could enhance Latina/o students’ relationships with the materialand class participation, in turn, helping them build academic self-confidence.

Total time spent studying positively affects Latina/o students’ academic self-confidence. The living-learning communities and support programs described above

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can certainly provide outlets to increase the time that Latina/o students spend study-ing. In addition, programs and policies that minimize the necessity for Latina/ostudents to work during college, such as financial aid grants and scholarships, canfree up time for them to concentrate on their studies, focus their efforts, and in turn,enhance their academic self-confidence and retention (Hurtado, Laird, & Perorazio,2003; St. John et al., 2003). Higher education administrators and faculty might directLatina/o students to meaningful work-study opportunities. Such opportunities couldinclude working on research with faculty members, which would afford studentsmore interaction with academic role models. In such cases, work-study programscould serve dual purposes of promoting Latina/o students’ engagement in the uni-versity and supporting their financial capacity to attend college.

As suggested earlier, further research should address increasing the number ofstudents and institution types in a sample to enhance general applicability of themodel and the capacity to identify more specific institutional effects. Because thesurvey used in this study was not originally tailored to test the conceptual frame-work, future quantitative or qualitative data collection could more explicitly addressthe framework in terms of the kinds of measures used. Finally, although this modelwas plausible, that does not necessarily imply that it was the only one to fit the data(Kline, 1998). Other models using different conceptual frameworks, measures, andpaths could be tested with similar data to help build theory and practice in this area.Such work would inform the efforts of researchers, policy makers, and practitionersat a broader array of institutions.

Understanding how broader structural and diversity-related experiences influenceLatina/o college outcomes will become more and more critical as the Latina/opopulation grows. More needs to be known about how predictors of academic self-confidence vary for different racial and ethnic, socioeconomic, and other groups andhow these variations relate to different policy and historical contexts (such as eras inwhich affirmative action policies are challenged). This study provides a departurepoint for understanding how multiple capitals and diversity-related experiencessupport Latina/o students’ academic self-confidence throughout their college careers.

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Anne-Marie Núñez is currently an assistant professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies atthe University of Texas at San Antonio. She obtained her Ph.D. from UCLA, M.A. from StanfordGraduate School of Education, and A.B. from Harvard University. Her research focuses on organizationalfactors that affect the college preparation, transition, and completion of diverse students, includingLatina/o, first-generation college-going, and migrant students.

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