Research Team Explores College Knowledge Among Gang-Associated Latino Boys

A new paper from researchers at USC, UCLA, and the University of La Verne, including the Pullias Center’s Adrian Huerta, seeks to explore a specific barrier to planning and preparation for higher education encountered by young gang-associated Latino males.

The research paper, titled College is…: Focusing on the college knowledge of gang-associated Latino boys and young men, shares a qualitative study that focused on the narratives of 13 Latino high school boys and young men with the goal of understanding what college knowledge they possess.  

“Research has already shown that gang-associated youth are less likely to complete high school and earn a postsecondary educational credential,” notes first author Adrian Huerta, tenure-track Assistant Professor of Education and associated faculty member at the Pullias Center. “However, scholars have not determined ‘why’ gang youth do not persist into higher education. The goal of the paper is to create a baseline understanding for sociologists, criminologists, and education scholars looking for insights on what gang-associated Latino boys and young men know about college and what their aspirations are for the future.”

The research involved participant observations, individual interviews, and the review of school documents over the span of 9 months.  The paper highlights missed opportunities to help students realize their college aspirations. The findings suggest that while students hold these high aspirations to pursue some form of postsecondary education, they were largely ignored, but could be helped by school personnel and college recruiters, if targeted for interventions and support.

It recommends state and local governments invest resources to get college information to gang-associated youth.  It also suggests school districts need to be intentional in partnering with local juvenile justice and youth development departments as well as youth and community partners, while offering educators and counselors professional development on how to re-engage gang youth in schooling. The paper also makes a call for school districts to move away from traditional zero-tolerance policies related to school discipline.

“It’s impossible for schools to fix all out-of-school activities and challenges,” concedes Huerta. ”However, strategic efforts do need to be made to help youth stay clear of the school-to-prison-pipeline and instead help pave a pathway to higher education opportunities.”

The paper has been recently accepted by the journal Urban Education for future publication.  Visit the Men of Color page on the Pullias Center website for updates on this project and related research.