Excelencia in Education is on the road examining Latino college completion around different states. They’ve completed three information sheets to date along with specific strategies to address the gap. You can check it out here.
My father was a union member for most his career in the steel industry. He literally helped form many of the huge steel frames that created the L.A. freeway system. A couple members of my family are union professionals so this article by Latino Decisions resonates with me personally. It’s a great write up on Latinos and labor union participation over the last few decades. Latinos, who are disproportionately represented in low wage jobs, have much to lose in the on-going union busting battles occurring across the United States, including in my new backyard of Wisconsin. The issue has far reaching implications for the Latino workforce:
Multi-generation Latinos have a lot at stake in the current battle to curtail the power of public sector unions. Latinos disproportionately represent low-wage jobs and have relied heavily on the efforts of unions to negotiate fair wages and benefits. If the power of unions is severely curtailed, many Latinos may be left without this protection. This vulnerability for Latinos is confounded by the fact that they are one of the least likely groups to obtain a higher education (U.S. Dept. of Education 2010). Unions play an even greater role in diminishing wage inequalities for workers without college degrees (Agbede 2011).
Might just be me, but there seems to be a great deal of buzz related to Latino topics today (marketing, education, politics, etc.) via Twitter including President Obama’s appearance at the NCLR Conference in D.C (#NCLRConf). A lot tweets regarding organizations and leaders “investing” in the Latino community in different ways. What I find ironic is how investing often lacks the most important element – time.
Increasing your presence or investment alone will not provide the results you want. Whether investing in financial markets or in the Latino community – it’s investment of time that will eventually provide the ROI.
Glenn Llopis makes a great case for multicultural talent matching multicultural marketing. Ironically, as Glenn notes, many organizations still “don’t’ get it.”
To authentically capture the growing multicultural market segments in America, corporations must be more strategic in how they integrate multicultural talent to support business growth. For example, just because Hispanic purchasing power is estimated to reach $1.2 trillion by 2012 does not mean that a company will be successful in its efforts to market to this emerging consumer group. As a result, corporations must get smarter about developing its multicultural talent to lead their multicultural business activities.
It’s simple: organizations need to develop a workforce that grasps the nuances of the consumers it’s targeting. Diversity in workforce is no longer the “right” thing to do – it makes economic sense.
Interesting question raised by Gina Carroll over at BlogHer. The question: should college applicants disclose their racial backgrounds? Frankly, I think it takes more than one box to identify individuals in a country that is increasingly multi-racial.
With regard to checking or not checking the race boxes, the general sentiment among students seems to be that applicants are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. African-American peers may accuse bi- or multi-racial kids for trying to gain preference by claiming to be “all black” or trying to gain an advantage by identifying as black “only at application time.” And their Caucasian colleagues might assume that the student gained admission preferences whether they actually identified with an under-represented group or not. Often, with this assumption comes the implication that students-of-color are undeserving of, and unqualified for, their acceptances.
LATISM was represented last week at the Hispanic Policy Conference in Washington D.C. Here’s a great overview by LATISM Director Elianne Ramos. With 150 Latino leaders from a variety of backgrounds and settings, the meet up at the White House was genuinely momentous.
Having been involved in these types of meetings for years (as I know many of you have), one always walks away with a sense of mission and purpose only to see that same enthusiasm fade away after time. My assumption is that those in attendance were empowered to hold these officials accountable. How? Access. Transparency. A Voice.
When it comes to the vast array of Latino issues – we must not be antagonistic – but we must demonstrate resolve from those who wish to partner with our community.
There’s no way – no way – I would’ve made it through my undergraduate and graduate programs without the help of Pell grants. Economically, it would’ve meant attending college in an “on-ramp/off-ramp” environment. So when Pell grant funding seems to be coming under the axe in the ridiculous deficit reduction talks, I worry for the thousands of Latino college students who are in the same boat I was in 20 years ago.
Has it been two years?
It’s hard to believe that I began HTM over two years ago this month. The last year was filled with change and new realities. Our move to Madison, Wisconsin from Cincinnati, Ohio was the biggest event of the year for me and my family. Not surprisingly, many of the same issues facing Latinos in Ohio are just as prevalent in Wisconsin – and in some cases – more so. The politics in Wisconsin these days is very interesting to say the least. Anyway, I’m just starting to get acclimated to my new surroundings and have already made some contacts within the community.
The big news over the last year (for me at least) was the census results. And while everyone knew the final numbers would be significant, no one I think realized how significant the growth in the Latino population would be in 10 years. We now know. Latinos are impacting all aspects of the United States: education, economics, business, culture, and many more aspects of American life. Yet, we also know there remain huge barriers and challenges for us a community.
As I enter the third year of HTM, I often ask myself – what’s my role? How am I adding to the dialogue? Frankly, I think my role is still evolving.
I started HTM as a way to capture trends and news occurring in the Latino workforce. However, I think HTM has grown to capture much more about our community. With this in mind, I’ve been working on reevaluating the purpose and mission of this site. Most of it has been “behind the scenes” getting input from those who I follow via Twitter and Facebook, as well as those that read my blog. They’ve been very helpful in getting me focused. Many thanks to my online communty and close friends!
In the coming weeks, you’ll begin to see some changes in HTM. Some will be subtle – others not so much. The biggest change will be a new site design that I hope will merge my “online footprint” a bit more. I’m also working on some long-term research and writing projects that have been on the back burner for a few months.
So here’s to another great year – it promises to be an exciting one. I do appreciate you dropping in over the last 24 months – and please keep coming back!
My sincerest thanks to all of you!
Miguel
The day after arriving from our vacation, we moved out of our temporary housing and into our new town “home.” Anyone that’s experienced relocating can appreciate my current situation – boxes everywhere!
I’m moving in my second year anniversary of HTM. Hard to believe – much has changed over the last two years and more is still to come I’m sure. I am in the process of updating my blog and planning on doing some things a bit different. I’ll keep you posted!
Now…. where did they pack that toaster. Ciao!
It’s been a long few months with the move to Madison and tons of other projects and classes. Off to vacation in our “home away from home” for the next week or so.
Will push up some posts if I get a chance. Ciao!
Newport, RI
