Educational Inequalities Reflecting Sociocultural and Geographical Embeddedness? Exploring the Place of Hispanics and Hispanic Cultures in Higher Education and Research Institutions in New Mexico

Abstract

The modern system of higher education and research institutions in the United States is steeped in ideas and traditions mainly from European universities. Serious consideration of studying and teaching Hispanic, Native American, and other ethnic minority cultures from an inside perspective did not emerge until creation of numerous corresponding research centers and academic programs in the 1970s. Nonetheless, the percentage of ethnic minorities in U.S. higher education has increased little, with Hispanics still underrepresented among students and academic staff at U.S. universities and research institutions. The author draws on educational statistics and extensive fieldwork, including 19 semistructured interviews with professors and institutional decision-makers at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. A contextual approach is proposed to help explain the persistent underrepresentation of Hispanic students and professors and to ask whether there is a place for Hispanic culture in higher education and research institutions in New Mexico.