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8/12/2019 ELPS 433: Synthesis Project
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Running Head: AN INTRICATE TAPESTRY OF DEVELOPMENT 1
An Intricate Tapestry of Development: A Review of Latino/a College Student Development
Roy Rodriguez
Loyola University Chicago
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AN INTRICATE TAPESTRY OF DEVELOPMENT 2
In an extensive review of the literature on Latino/a college identity development, little
nor diverse information arises. As I scoured the Internet and library article databases, few results
deviating from the typical topics of undocumented students, immigration reform, and poverty
came up. This was alarming because as a self-identified Latino, such results indicated to me that
little attention is given to Latino/as in higher education and how even less attention has been
given to how Latino/a students develop through the highly formative college years. In this paper
I seek to understand how Latino/a college students develop through college as researched by the
few scholars that I was able to find and to advocate for how imperative it is that more research be
conducted to gather a holistic view of Latino/a college student development in order to provide
better services and support systems for these students in higher education (Castillo, Conoley,
Choi-Pearson, Archuleta, Phoummarath, and Van Landingham, 2006; Torres, 2003). Although
the termLatinoin traditional language conventions in Spanish is reflective of both the male and
female gender, for the purpose of this assignment, I will attempt to make a conscious effort to
use the termLatino/a, Latino/asso as to be mindful of the gender diversity that is represented
within this particular community. The limitation in utilizing the term in this way, however, is
that it does not intuitively encompass the appropriate term for individuals who may identify as
transgender or gender non-conforming (Gallegos & Ferdman, 2007).
Latino/as in American Higher Education: An emerging Population
Latino/as have consistently been one of the fastest growing ethnic populations in the
United States in the new millennium with the population increasing by about 57.9% from 1990
to 2000 (Gallegos & Ferdman, 2007; Guardia & Evans, 2008; Hernandez, 2002; Longerbeam,
Sedlacek, & Alatorre, 2004; Ojeda, Navarro, Rosales Meza, & Arbona, 2012; Torres &
Hernandez, 2007; Torres, 2003). However, despite this healthy and consistent increase in overall
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social category that has such a strong influence on their identity and reconstruct various meaning
making processes (Gallegos & Ferdman, 2007).
Intricately Weaving in Racial and Ethnic Identity
It is not an effective method to examine the various dimensions of student development
as separate from s students racial or ethnic identity when looking at Latino/a college students in
particular (Torres & Baxter Magolda; 2004; Torres; 2003). Instead, it is critical to observe how
these students move through developmental tasks from an integrative perspective. For the
purposes of this assignment, while I do examine how Latino/a college students move through the
various dimensions of development separately, I continuously look at this movement with the
added lens of ethnic and racial identity (Pope, 2000). I take on this approach because it is
imperative that student affairs practitioners have a well-developed understanding of racial and
ethnic identity and their impact on the development of students of color so as to be able to
provide them with the best support and services possible. With regards to Latino/a college
students, such an approach allows student affairs practitioners to acknowledge much of the
diversity that their cultures bring to their identities and how they must navigate through that
while having to take part in the dominant, American culture as well (Gallegos & Ferdman, 2007;
Ojeda et al., 2012; Pope, 2000).
Racial identity involves how an individual views, understands, and interacts with their
own racial group as well as members of other racial groups (Helms & Cook, 1999; Pope, 2000).
Racial identity models strive to examine a students sense of belonging to a particular group and
the impacts this group membership, or lack thereof, has on their interpersonal and intrapersonal
(cognitive and psychosocial) development (Pope, 2000; Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004; Torres
& Hernandez, 2007; Torres, 2003). Although much of the research on the identity of members
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from different ethnic groups has focused primarily on black, international, and white students, it
still has strong implications for other minority groups such as Latino/as in higher education
(Pope, 2000). Ethnic identity theories commonly suggest that a critical moment usually marks
the beginning of any type of starting point into the development of a racial/ethnic identity, but
they do not adequately reveal or explore the process or the influences on that process for these
individuals (Helms & Cook, 1999; Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004).
Helms & Cook (1999) suggests that movement from a less mature worldview to a more
mature one is segmented by statuses. Helmss statuses imply that an individualmay possess
multiple worldviews with associated feelings and behaviors, but that one worldview dominates
over all of them. Moving from a less mature to more mature status is usually associated with
positive interactions with other groups (Helms & Cook, 1999; Pope, 2000). As is the case with
Latino/a students, many of them, regardless of generational status within the United States,
struggle with having to assimilate into one culture at the expense of disregarding the other
(Helms & Cook, 1999; Torres, 2003). This significantly impedes their ability to effectively
develop a strong sense of self and interact with members from their own and outside groups;
clearly demonstrating how racial and ethnic identity is intricately woven into both psychosocial
and cognitive development. It is primarily for this reason that integrating ethnic identity with the
other dimensions of student development is critical in gathering a more specific perspective of
Latino/a student development overall.
In many of the critiques of the traditional theories of student development, the issue of
applicability to other identity groups other than the standard white, affluent, heterosexual male
that pervade most of the ones highly regarded by student affairs practitioners makes applying
these theories to practice for Latino/a students difficult (Evans et al., 2010; Torres et al., 2009;
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Torres, 2003). But rather than disregarding theories by Chickering and Reisser or Perry when
dealing with Latino/a college students, student affairs practitioners and researchers in higher
education should think of their development through an ethnic identity lens. By doing so, the
various influences that impact the overall development of Latino/a college students can be taken
into consideration and used to help better support them as they come across crossroads or face
moments of extreme dissonance that will force them to develop sophisticated ways of making
meaning and reconstructing their own sense of self (Evans et al., 2010; Torres & Baxter
Magolda, 2004; Torres & Hernandez, 2007). Research studies that examined the psychosocial
and cognitive development of Latino/a college students on their own showcased how they
effectively moved through these individual dimensions, but they did not examine how race and
ethnicity might promote or hinder such development. It is for this reason that I advocate that
studying and working with Latino/a college students needs to be done by incorporating ethnic
identity into the use of holistic development (Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004; Torres &
Hernandez, 2007).
Psychosocial Development
Theories of psychosocial development aim to examine the issues individuals encounter
throughout their life span that impact how they define themselves, their relationships with others,
and what they choose to do with their lives (as cited in Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, & Renn,
2010; Foubert & Grainger, 2006). These particular theories, like Chickering and Reissers
revised theory of identity development, are useful in understanding the influences that
individuals encounter at different points in their lives and how these encounters promote, or
hinder, development (Evans et al., 2010; Foubert & Grainger, 2006). The literature review
yielded few research studies that solely observed the psychosocial development of Latino/a
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college students. Rather, a few of the studies that were found placed psychosocial development
in relation to other developmental dimensions such as racial and ethnic identity models;
demonstrating once again how intricately woven ethnic identity and psychosocial development
are for Latino/a students (Bernal, Bonilla, & Bellido, 1995; Castillo et al., 2006; Helms & Cook,
1999; Ojeda et al., 2012; Pope, 2000).
To understand how Latino/a college students navigate through psychosocial
development, Pope (2000) asserts that although Chickering and Reissers theory of identity
development can be insufficient (p. 74) in explaining how students of color move through
development, it is equally important to understand how ethnic identity influences and impacts
this particular dimension of development for Latino/a students (Evans et al., 2010). Pope found
that the construct of social identity was significantly related to the combined tasks of
psychosocial development (Pope, 2000). In particular, there was a close relationship between
racial/ethnic identity and the psychosocial tasks of Establishing and Clarifying Purpose,
Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships, and Academic Autonomy (Evans et al., 2010;
Pope, 2000). In Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships, individuals develop
intercultural and interpersonal appreciation of that which is different than them as well as the
capacity to hold and maintain meaningful relationships with others (as cited in Evans et al.,
2010). In Establishing and Clarifying Purpose (Developing Purpose), Chickering and Reisser
assert that the goals of this vector are for an individual to develop clear goals and make strong
interpersonal commitments (as cited in Evans et al., 2010).
Castillo, Conoley, Choi-Pearson, Archuleta, Phoummarath, and Van Landingham (2012)
look into the factors that contribute towards Latino/a college students attitudes on college
persistence, work that is deeply rooted in psychosocial development. In their study, the
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researchers found that students with a stronger commitment to their ethnic identity had more of a
struggle with academic persistence. By developing such a strong ethnic identity, Latino/a
students felt the need for emersion, or the recognition for positive group definition, and did not
develop the intercultural or interpersonal appreciation that is characteristic of Developing Mature
Interpersonal Relationships (Evans et al., 2010; Helms & Cook, 1999; Pope, 2000; Castillo et al.,
2006). Helmss (1999) people of color racial identity model provides more insight as to why this
is. Helms asserts that due to a higher sense of ethnic self, individuals may begin to immerse
themselves in, or idealize everything to be considered of their own group, and reject anything
that is other (Helms & Cook, p. 248, 1999). Similar to emersion, immersion causes Latino/a
students to reject anything that may not be of their own group, which then leads to a low or poor
development of mature and interpersonal relationships (Helms & Cook, 1999).
Through these examples, it is important to highlight a point Pope makes clear:
development in either ethnic identity development or psychosocial development causes the other;
it shows that they are closely related (Pope, 2000). This is significant because the time and
energy students of color, namely Latino/a students, put into navigating their own ethnic identity
development can have huge impacts on their psychosocial development as well. This makes
placing special attention to the impact of ethnic identity on the psychosocial development of
Latino/a students by student affairs practitioners a high priority.
Research on the psychosocial development of Latino/a college students is scarce. Many
of the developmental tasks in this dimension of development as they pertain to this particular
group of students are best examined in relation to ethnic identity (Pope, 2000). The fact that
psychosocial development theories on their own do not provide a full and clear picture of the
identities of Latino/a students suggests that higher education researchers must take the time, care,
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and initiative to better understand how this population of students formulate other areas of their
identity in conjunction with their race and ethnicity. Seeing that race and ethnicity has a
significant impact on the ways in which individuals formulate their own identities and it is
critical that research continues to be done to examine the impacts on the overall identity of
Latino/a students.
Cognitive Development
Theories of cognitive development attempt to examine the processes of intellectual
development during the college years (Evans et al.,p. 43, 2010). Cognitive development
theories have a strong focus on how people think and make meaning of the experiences that they
face throughout their lives (Evans et al., 2010; Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004). These theories
are helpful in aiding student affairs practitioners in understanding how students reason through
the decision making process and their interactions with those around them (Evans et al. 2010).
The research on Latino/a cognitive development indicates that the meaning making processes of
these students are significantly influenced by various structures such as family, generational
status in the United States, and geographic location (Guardia & Evans, 2008; Ojeda et al., 2012;
Torres & Hernandez, 2007; Torres 2003; Torres 2004). In the context of Latino/a cognitive
development, these particular students often produce their identities through participation in a
wide array of cultural activities that allow them to participate in the conceptual, or cognitive,
developmental processes such as valuing the family structure, Latino Greek letter organizations,
or even reverse racism (Guardia & Evans, 2008; Ojeda et al., 2012; Urrieta, 2007).
An example cognitive development that was found in the literature review was in a
research study conducted by Ojeda, Navarro, Rosales Meza, & Arbona (2012) on the influence
of stressors related to ethnic background (racism, stereotype threat, etc.) on the well-being and
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identity development of Latino/a college students. The researchers found that Latino/a students
perception of pressure from within their own ethnic identity group to conform to the norms of
their Latino/a culture significantly impacted their overall satisfaction with their academic
experience in a negative way (Ojeda et al., 2012). This came in the form of pressure from their
own identity group wanting them to behave in certain ways or conforming to acceptable cultural
norms, such as speaking Spanish, causing strong dissonance within them. Due to the pressure of
not having the support they expected along with the pressure to behave in certain ways to gain
the acceptance of the group they trusted most on campus, these Latino/a students felt a higher
degree of isolation, alienation, and loneliness as well as an overall decrease in their satisfaction
with the college experience (Ojeda et al., 2012; Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004; Torres, 2003).
The students felt that their choice in this instance was between either conforming to the
cultural expectations of those they felt supported them the most on campus and viewed as
immediate authority figures or to take part in the majority culture and risk alienation and
isolation from their peers (Ojeda et al., 2012; Torres, 2003). To these individuals, there was no
other obvious or apparent solution in trying to alleviate this stress so as to be able to enjoy their
experience. This is a clear example of the dualism position in Perrys (1968) theory of
intellectual and ethical development (Evans et al., 2010; Ojeda et al., 2012). With dualistic
reasoning, Perry asserts that students view the world dichotomously and that their meaning
making processes are heavily influenced by those they view as the authority figures in their lives
(Evans et al., p. 86, 2010).
In the case of Latino/a students, again adding the layer of ethnic identity on top of it, the
authority figures throughout most of their lives are their families (Guardia & Evans, 2008; Ojeda
et al., 2012; Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004; Torres, 2003). When these students arrive to
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college, most Latino/a students that came from backgrounds in which their families were strong
influences on them or if they went to an institution where they were no longer the visible,
dominant ethnicity, but they came from geographic locations in which they were, these students
actively seek out communities in which they feel similar nurture and support (Guardia & Evans;
2008; Helms & Cook 1999; Ojeda et al., 2012; Torres, 2003). If that support is not received or
felt by Latino/a students, the implications can negatively impact them and lead to cases of
depression and low retention numbers (Castillo et al., 2006).
Aside from familial influences, another way Latino/a students developed in the cognitive
dimension was in the way they perceived themselves in society (Torres, 2003). An individuals
self-perception of their status in society is usually associated with socioeconomic status, but
Torres used self-perception to describe how Latino/a college students perceive some perceptions
of their culture as a privilege compared to others who might view them as oppressive (Torres,
2003). Latino/a students in the study exhibited perceptions of privilege through their beliefs of
negative stereotypes of their Latino/a ethnicity and in the ways in which they actively tried to
reject such stereotypes from their lives (Torres, 2003). These students accomplished this by
either fighting hard to act in ways that were acceptable by the majority culture or by reverse
racism as well (Helms & Cook, 1999; Pope 2000; Torres, 2003). Other students did not view
themselves as having any privilege over others as a result of having exposure to oppression such
as racism or from living with different cultures (Torres, 2003).
Although these examples illustrate how cognitive development theories are useful in
examining how sociocultural influences such as family, generational status in the United States,
and geographic location impact the meaning making processes of Latino/a students, this is only
the case because the added layer of ethnic identity has been added to it (Torres, 2003). The
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existing research on the cognitive development of Latino/a students alone do not provide a clear
picture of how these students move through this dimension of development on their own.
Holistic Development
Integrative, or holistic, developmental theories aim to combine both the dimensions of
psychosocial and cognitive theories to provide a more complete picture of the developmental
processes of college students as they intertwine throughout their lives (Evans et al., 2010; Torres
& Baxter Magolda, 2004; Torres, Jones, & Renn, 2009). Researchers like Kegan and Baxter
Magolda and Torres (2004) took a holistic approach to explain the developmental processes of
college students because they believed that development occurs throughout life and that there is
no clear cut distinction between how an individual develops cognitively or psychosocially, but
that these developmental processes happen simultaneously (as cited in Baxter Magolda, 2009;
Evans et al., 2010; Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004). In reviewing the literature, it became
evident that taking a holistic approach in observing the developmental process of Latino/a
college students was essential to effectively understand and communicate the development of
this particular student population.
Few research studies exist that take a holistic approach to understanding Latino/a student
development (Torres & Hernandez, 2007). Much of the literature that does exist on taking a
holistic approach to understanding the development of Latino/a college students can be found in
Torres (2003; 2004; 2009), Torres and Baxter Magolda (2004), and Torres and Hernandezs
(2007) research on the meaning making processes of Latino/a college students as they move
through higher education. Torres workis useful and beneficial in understanding Latino/a
college student development because the studies also incorporate the added layer of ethnic
identity that influences the development of their every day lives in addition to integrating the
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cognitive and psychosocial dimensions of development. Torres and Baxter Magolda assert that
long standing, traditional theories of student development that place Latino/a students into
categories only give student affairs practitioners what they refer to as snapshots of
development (p. 333)and do not look at the developmental processes of these students in its
entirety (Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004). Torres and Baxter Magolda also found that
examining Latino/a college student development solely through the lens of ethnic identity is just
as ineffective as strictly adhering to the traditional developmental theories because existing
theories of ethnic identity development do not readily combine or incorporate the various
dimensions of interpersonal and intrapersonal development (Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004;
Torres & Hernandez, 2007; Torres, 2003).
In their study, Torres and Baxter Magolda (2004) examine how the various dimensions of
development (interpersonal, intrapersonal, and cognitive) and the academic environment in
which Latino/a students find themselves in order to better understand how they work
simultaneously to reconstruct a students own sense of self. The researchers also utilized ethnic
identity development as an added lens through which they could examine how Latino/as in
higher education also made meaning of their ethnicity (Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004). The
researchers argue that identity development must be considered as an interrelationship among
multiple dimensions in which change is inevitable as a result of the various dimensions of
development that have been continuously mentioned in this section (Torres & Baxter Magolda,
2004). It is because of this reasoning that Torres and Baxter Magolda utilize the concept of self-
authorship as their means of taking a holistic approach to examining Latino/a college students
(Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004). Torres and Baxter Magolda refer to self-authorship as the
internal capacity for an individual to define their beliefs, sense of self, and relations to those
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around them (Evans et al., 2010; Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004). They argue that the
integration of both the intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions of development promotes self-
authorship and the holistic development of students (Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004; Torres &
Hernandez; 2007). It is through this perspective that Torres and Baxter Magolda advocate that
students need to have an environment in which they can explore and express their identities in
order construct a strong sense of self (Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004).
Torres and Baxter Magolda focus the attention of their study on two students who they
felt exhibited strong levels of identity reconstruction. To Sagi, a young female college student
who immigrated to the United States when she was 14, Americans inherently knew more than
she did. When asked to expound upon this perception by the researcher (Torres), she explained
that because of her struggle with not being able to speak Spanish without an accent, she felt that
she was perceived as being inferior to others that spoke English perfectly (Torres & Baxter
Magolda, 2004). This example demonstrates how Sagis perception of self was significantly
impacted by racial/ethnic stereotypes based off of perceived English speaking abilities.
Cognitively, Sagi believed that because she did not speak English as well as Americans (p.
337) did, she could not perform successfully and graduate from college; the feeling of shame and
angst engulfed this individual (Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004).
In this case, societal norms, stereotypes, and actions from those in Sagis environment
(faculty and peers in particular) took on the authoritative, dominant role and led Sagi to
internalize these notions as being true and inescapable. As Sagi moved along in the college
experience, her level of confidence in her academic abilities steadily increased as she interacted
with people who challenged her ways of knowing and took part in actions that forced her to face
dissonance in unfamiliar environments (Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004). These experiences in
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her college career, particularly in her first two years as an undergraduate student, allowed Sagi to
begin to reconstruct her perception of what it meant to be non-American or a first-generation
student in college (Torres & Baxter Magolda, 2004). This allowed Sagi to rethink the
stereotypes that influenced her identity and pushed her to reconstruct her sense of self in order to
develop a more positive and integrated way of thinking and being. But for a majority of Latino/a
students, such a healthy developmental progression is not always so easy. Racism significantly
influences how Latino/a students manage through external formulas, a phase of self-authorship,
to which inhibits their progression towards self-authorship as was the case seen with Sagi (Torres
& Baxter Magolda, 2004).
The strengths in utilizing a holistic approach to understanding the developmental
processes of Latino/a college students in higher education are evident in this section. However,
despite the fact that holistic development theories seek to integrate the various dimensions of
student development, there is a limited amount of research that takes a holistic approach in
studying Latino/as (Torres & Hernandez; 2007). As was also apparent in this section was the
fact that most of the research in this particular area of development was conducted by one main
researcher, Vasti Torres. Although the research tries to examine various areas and influences on
development for these students, much of the inferences that Torres makes from the initial study
pull from a small sample of Latino/a study and uses this sample to make significant
generalizations to explain the development of these students. This posses as an extreme threat to
the external validity of the research study because the small sample size is not representative of
the vast diversity that comprises the Latino/a identity group (Christensen & Johnson, 2012).
Implications for Practice for an Emerging Population
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The reason why I chose to examine Latino/a college student development through the
lens of ethnic identity as an interwoven thread through the various dimensions of student
development was because throughout a review of the literature it became increasingly evident
that existing psychosocial, cognitive, and racial/ethnic identity theories alone did not adequately
convey how Latino/a college students move through different developmental processes (Torres
& Baxter Magolda, 2004; Torres & Hernandez, 2007). There was also few research studies
found that sought to provide useful resources or tools to help Latino/a students as they develop
through college. However, when these dimensions of development are combined, a holistic
picture of Latino/a ethnic identity emerges and it becomes easier to understand how numerous
influences impede or promote development for these students.
Seeing as the Latino/a population in the United States is increasingly growing and
anticipated to grow even further over the next decade, there must be a larger effort made by
higher education researchers to further the study on the development of Latino/as in higher
education (Gallegos & Ferdman, 2007; Guardia & Evans, 2008; Hernandez, 2002; Longerbeam
et al., 2004; Ojeda et al., 2012; Torres & Hernandez, 2007; Torres, 2003). More research on the
development of Latino/a students in higher education is critical because the alarming
disproportionate rates of Latino/as that are making it into institutions of learning, but that are not
finishing and receiving their degrees (Hurtado & Ponjuan; 2007; Castillo et al., 2006). Most of
the reasons why these students are not completing degree programs can be attributed to the
unwelcoming and homogenous environments that many colleges and universities create (Castillo
et al., 2006). Furthering the research on Latino/a students can help student affairs practitioners
advocate for the need of programs and services that are vital to the recruitment and retention of
Latino/a students on campuses across the country. In order for Latino/a students to feel the
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support they need at their institutions, student affairs practitioners must also take part in
developing programs and services that are based off of research that proves to be useful for these
students. The use of new and holistic research on Latino/a college students could ensure that as
an inevitable influx of such students make their way to college, the universities they attend are
ready and prepared to ensure their success and development.
The development of Latino/a college students is both diverse and complex (Gallegos &
Ferdman, 2007; Torres, 2003). To make the assumption that one theory fits all students is to
simultaneously disregard the immense diversity that exists within this particular identity group.
It is critical that student affairs professionals and higher education researchers understand that
Latino/a college students face unique challenges as they journey through their own development
in higher education. Due to their unique cultural backgrounds, families, and generational status,
it is difficult for Latino/a college students to separate themselves from their ethnic identity.
Rather than taking from the models and theories that exist that explicitly seek to explain the
developmental processes of people of color like Helms and Pope, practitioners need to
understand that Latino/a students develop like any other population of students. But because of
the unique and diverse cultural experiences they bring, a solid understanding of the impact ethnic
identity has on the developmental processes of Latino/a students and using that understanding as
an added lens to assist and support these students through college is essential.
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