| This study explores the ways in which institutional agents (i.e., faculty, staff, and advisors) influence Latino engineering students' sense of belonging at a predominantly White institution (PWI). Research (e.g., Museus, Palmer, Davis, & Maramba, 2011) has shown the struggles that Latino students face in pursuing higher education (e.g., culture shock, marginalization, financial barriers), as well as the obstacles that some of them face related to their undocumented status (e.g., out-of-state tuition, ineligibility for federal student aid) (Gildersleeve & Ranero, 2010; Gildersleeve, Rumann, & Mondragon, 2010). However, there is little to no empirical research that describes how successful Latino engineering students connect socially in order to feel a sense of belonging in competitive majors, such as engineering, at a PWI. To explore this phenomenon, this study addressed the following research questions: (a) How do Latino students describe their social connections with institutional agents? (b) According to Latino students, how have those social connections influenced their sense of belonging in engineering at a PWI? (c) How are the social connections and their influence on sense of belonging in engineering alike or different for Latinos who identify as undocumented? Using a qualitative case study design (i.e., on-site observations, interviews, and a constant comparative method), the social connections that seven Latino students made at one Midwestern university were explored in an effort to understand the influence that institutional agents had on their sense of belonging in engineering at a PWI. The findings revealed that while Latinos felt marginalized, they eventually felt a sense of belonging in engineering through developing their engineering identity with the support of institutional agents and peers. Further implications for theory, methodology, policy, and practice were also explored. |
