Factors That Influence Minority Student Enrollment at Various Levels of Postsecondary Education

Research indicates disparities in the enrollment of minorities in postsecondary education. However, the reasons for the lower enrollment rates of minorities are less clear. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between sex, income, GPA, racial/ethnic identity, academic self-concept, and sense of school belonging for African American and Latino/Latina students with level of enrollment at postsecondary schools (two-year community college or four-year university). Participants included 256 African American and Latino/Latina students at two-year community colleges and four-year universities in Virginia. GPA and academic self-concept were found to be predictors of enrollment. Specifically, students with higher GPAs are 5.4 times more likely to enroll in a four-year university and students with higher academic self-concept are 1.8 times more likely to enroll in a two-year community college, when controlling for all other variables. There was also a significant interaction of race and sex on academic self-concept, specifically that African American males had the lowest academic self-concept. No group differences were found between African Americans and Latinos/Latinas in ethnic identity, sense of school belonging, and academic self-concept. The limitations of the current study as well as implications for educators and counselors are also presented

The Use of Empathy in Human Services: Strategies for Diverse Professional Roles

Human service professionals must manage a variety of roles and responsibilities in order to meet individual, group, and community needs. Managing these roles often necessitates the use of empathy in order to correctly understand issues, build trusting relationships, and meet the needs of client populations. This article presents a brief overview of empathy and applies it to the human service roles of direct service worker, advocate, administrator, and evaluator. In each professional role, examples are provided of how empathy can help human service workers achieve optimal outcomes. Implications for human services training and professional development are also provided

The Racial and Ethnic Identity Development Process for Adult Colombian Adoptees

This research aimed to understand the process adult Colombian adoptees raised in the United States of America go through to define themselves in the context of race and ethnicity. The research followed a qualitative narrative methodology, in which six participants were interviewed twice regarding their experiences with transracial and transnational adoption and their ethnic and racial identity process. The results suggest that identity is a dynamic process. Our research also confirms Colombian’s history of unethical adoptions and its influence on the complexity of identity and loss of adult Colombian adoptees. Throughout the article, the researchers use the term biological family referring to Colombian birth families. However, we acknowledge that other terms (i.e., first, natural, original, etc.) are also used in the adoptee community