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Barriers, influences, and leadership challenges of selected Mexican American administrators in South Texas higher education from 1970 to 1990
Abstract
This oral history of Mexican American educators examined the South Texas experience in light of a century-and-a-half of conflict which reflected juxtaposing Anglo Saxon and Chicano ideologies. Texans of Mexican descent who grew up in South Texas from the late 1930's through the late 1960's were, to varying degrees, products of this conflict. The coauthors of this study, for the most part, left South Texas, attained undergraduate and graduate degrees, then returned to South Texas where they assumed positions of authority in public higher education during the 1970's and 1980's. The contexts within which each individual grew up were examined in light of sociological descriptions of South Texas communities, Hidalgo County Project descriptions of Mexican American families, social-learning theory, and the literature on mentoring relationships. This study explored factors which enabled individuals to remain within the educational pipeline from childhood through the Ph.D. An ecological view of human development was assumed. Emphasis throughout the study centered about human development within conducive contexts. Behaviors of parents, teachers, college teachers, graduate faculty, and other significant persons were investigated. Personal strategies also comprised an important part of the upward mobility mosaic. Although the coauthors all grew up in South Texas, their experiences were diverse. Parents' socioeconomic level, degree of discrimination within communities, age, personal motivation, and serendipity played roles within each coauthor's educational and professional upward progression. Change agency, the Chicano Movement, and changing educational opportunities for Mexican Americans in the South Texas were included in this vignette. Coauthors articulated a role for higher education in South Texas. In light of the demographic and political realities of the 1990's, the coauthors called for increased state commitment to South Texas' educational needs and to those of Latinos statewide. This study held implications for educational practice and policy at all levels from elementary school through graduate school.
Description
Vita.Subject
Major educational administrationCareer development
Mexican American college administrators
Mexican Americans
Education (Higher)
1993 Thesis H567
Mexican American college administrators
Case studies
Texas
Mexican Americans
Education (Higher)
History
20th century
Texas
Oral history
Career development
Case studies
Texas
Collections
Citation
Herrington, David Earl (1993). Barriers, influences, and leadership challenges of selected Mexican American administrators in South Texas higher education from 1970 to 1990. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -1383485.
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