Roberto D. Segura

Bio: Roberto D. Segura is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Big Five personality traits and culture & Bilingual education. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 111 citations.

Critical Race Theory, Racial Microaggressions, and Campus Racial Climate for Latina/o Undergraduates

Abstract: In this article, Tara Yosso, William Smith, Miguel Ceja, and Daniel Solorzano expand on their previous work by employing critical race theory to explore and understand incidents of racial microaggressions as experienced by Latina/o students at three selective universities. The authors explore three types of racial microaggressions—interpersonal microaggressions, racial jokes, and institutional microaggressions—and consider the effects of these racist affronts on Latina/o students. Challenging the applicability of Vincent Tinto's three stages of passage for college students, the authors explore the processes by which Latinas/os respond to racial microaggressions and confront hostile campus racial climates. The authors find that, through building community and developing critical navigation skills, Latina/o students claim empowerment from the margins.

Getting In: Mexican Americans' Perceptions of University Attendance and the Implications for Freshman Year Persistence.

Abstract: In view of its importance for social advancement [1 1] and its contribution to the improvement of personal well-being [2, 5 1], it is not surprising that higher education in the United States has become a cynosure for efforts to improve the condition of economically and socially disadvantaged subpopulations. Ironically, the present condition of these subpopulations exists because, in the past, higher education's service as an instrument for social mobility was seldom indiscriminate. America's racial and ethnic minorities have been and continue to be "grossly underrepresented in higher education and in almost all occupational fields that require a college education" [2], and do not, as a consequence, enjoy equitable participation in the larger society's social, economic, and political life. One racial minority that has been particularly underserved by American higher education, in general, and by the four-year institution, in particular, is the Mexican American. In 1979, according to an estimate by the Bureau of the Census [47], the rate of baccalaureate degree attainment in the general population was more than four times the rate in the Mexican American subpopulation alone. Data presented by Brown [10] tend to confirm the link between social and economic ad-

Educational Attainment: Analysis by Immigrant Generation

Abstract: This paper presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of the largely ignored issue of the determinants of the educational attainment of adults by immigrant generation. Using Current Population Survey (CPS) data, differences in educational attainment are analyzed by immigrant generation (first, second, and higher order generations), and among the foreign born by country of birth and age at immigration. Second-generation American adults have the highest level of schooling, exceeding that of the foreign born and of the native born with native-born parents. Teenage immigration is associated with fewer years of schooling compared to those who immigrated at pre-teen or post-teen ages. The gender difference in educational attainment is greatest among the foreign born. Hispanics and Blacks lag behind the non-Hispanic whites in their educational attainment, with the gap narrowing for higher order immigrant generations among Hispanics, but rising among blacks.

Comparisons of beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning among postsecondary students

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to assess postsecondary students' beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning, or epistemological beliefs. Comparisons were made between junior college students and university students and between technological science majors and social science majors on their degree of belief in simple knowledge, certain knowledge, innate ability, and quick learning. Junior college students were more likely to believe in simple, certain knowledge, and quick learning. University students were more likely to believe in innate ability. Technological science majors were more likely to believe in quick learning. Background variables, such as age, gender, and parental education, also contributed to differences between groups. Two-year institutions, as well as four-year institutions, might want to consider students' epistemological beliefs as possible factors affecting academic performance, attrition rate, and transfer difficulties.