The American society is full of different ethnicities and races. However, every ethnicity aims for better life and understanding between each other. For achievement of these goals, the better solution may be found as education. Though, it is a very complicated and controversial issue. Hence, every ethnicity has different perspectives of the process of obtaining the education. On the other hand, it should be mentioned that the opportunities for getting an education are not equal. Therefore, this inequality forms a level of education among the popularity of the USA. This issue has been deeply investigated among the sociologists and educators. The sociologists have an endeavor of creating the model of the education level. The educators examine the level and the quality of the education within the USA in order to improve its status and increase its level in every ethnicity among the American population.
The situation of the education is controversial since the current population report demonstrates that almost 88% of adults (9/10) have a high school diploma (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). It sounds in a developing way since almost every person among the American popularity attends the school and finishes it. The situation is not as prosperous with the higher education as with the school diploma. Meanwhile, the percentage of people, who obtained an educational degree, is lower since only 33% obtain it (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015).
Talking about the ethnicity element in the educational proportion, one may find out that the percentage is lower. However, it is objective since in comparison to the Asian ethnicity there is no difference; even the Asian ethnicity is more likely to obtain the higher education (some college or more) than White alone population (59% to 70%). Though, the Hispanic origin ethnicity has lower percent - 36.8% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). Moreover, they have the lowest percentage in every section beginning from the school diploma and ending with more advanced education. However, the research shows that the percentage of the higher education among the Hispanic origin is growing in comparison to the last years, especially from the end of the 1990s (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015).
The establishment and development of the education in the Hispanic ethnicity face the different features of the socio-economic and cultural characteristics. The Hispanic languages and their roles, socio-economic status, the surrounding attitudes, family boundaries and religious beliefs play an inevitable part in the process of the education in the American schools (Green, 2013). The Spanish and English languages do not have a lot of in common, and it goes without saying that the students from the Hispanic ethnicity have troubles while communicating with their families in the first language and communication in the academic world with the second one. Therefore, it may occur that the reason of being misunderstood because of the language stop the Hispanic minority to obtain the higher education.
Moreover, they may be afraid to write in the academic English language while their first language is Spanish. The socio-economic status is not only the reason but also the consequences. There are plenty of families, which cannot afford their children to study in the higher educational institutions since they do not have enough money in order to pay for fee and tuition. As a result, some adults have to search for the job, which does not demand the higher education diploma. Furthermore, this job may be found as a hard physical one and not well paid. Though, this model seems to be more stereotypical than being truthful.
However, the scheme of the obtaining the higher degree and finding better jobs still works even being so trite and stereotypical. The attitude from the other people plays a crucial role in the educational sphere as well. The other people underestimate the Hispanic minority and treat them with prejudice and bias. This factor does not enhance the desire of the Hispanic minority to enter the higher schools and obtain diplomas since no one will appreciate it and take into consideration. Moreover, plenty of the American public schools does not have proper facilities and professional staff to help the Hispanic minority in their desires and ambitions to study (Green, 2013).
The situation concerning the education in the USA is changing over the years. However, it is hard to say that these changes are positive since they are more unstable than negative or positive. O’Connor mentions that because of the instability, the Hispanic students face a list of the disadvantages in the higher educational institutions. In comparison to Whites, the situation is definitely worse – attending the same educational institutions does not give the Hispanic students the opportunity to finish them. As a result, the percent to obtain a Bachelor’s degree is higher for the Whites rather than more the Hispanic students (O’Connor, 2009).
There are only a half of the Hispanic students, who graduate Bachelor's degree successfully. The reasons are obvious – the socio-economic status of the Hispanic students. Unfortunately, the low-level of the financial background and a necessity to work while studying in the college do not facilitate their studies or achievements in the academic sphere. Moreover, the Hispanic students are less likely to enter the higher educational institutions whereas they attend some courses or public institutions, where the tuition and fee are lower (O’Connor, 2009).
Furthermore, the family financial and intellectual backgrounds influence the educational level and the process of its obtaining. The Hispanic students with low financial background do not pass exams successful at all educational levels. For instance, the percentages of the Hispanic students with the low financial income, who pass the exams successfully and enter the higher institutions, constitute approximately 62%, whereas the percentage of the middle-income students and high-income students are higher. The Hispanic families usually have a lot of children. From the financial point of view, it is a disadvantage for those children, who want to obtain the educational degree, since the family financial support is divided into all the siblings in the family. O’Connor states that the findings of his research reflect the situation, where the Hispanic students have the lowest level of the socio-economic status. (O’Connor, 2009).
Therefore, is causes so many disadvantages for the Hispanic students. In comparison to the Blacks and Whites, the Hispanics are at the lower position. Hence, they do not have enough financial support to start the education and then graduate it. On the contrary, the Hispanic students with the high socio-economic status do not suffer from these disadvantages since they have the opportunity to attend school and obtain the Bachelor’s degree. However, the results of the investigation have shown that high socio-economic status provides a different level of the perspectives of all the three groups. As a result, the Hispanics receive fewer advantages in comparison to the Whites and the Blacks.
The research demonstrates that the number of the Hispanic population has increased during the last decades. The percentage of the Hispanic population enlarged its number by 58% (Casas & Ryan, 2010). Therefore, the socio-economic status of the Hispanic population should be taken into consideration in order to build a model for the whole nation of the United States of America. The disadvantages, which occur in the Hispanic population while trying to get the higher education, demonstrate the gaps in the educational sphere.
As a result, the academic area is far-fetched for some students, especially for the Hispanic students with low socio-economic status. Additionally, the Hispanic students with idle and high socio-economic status receive fewer benefits than the Whites, and the Blacks do. It demonstrates a picture of the inequality in getting benefits even in the academic sphere. Therefore, this investigation should serve a help and motivation for the further examination of the given issue and provoke the changes in the academic sphere and socio-economic branch as well.
References
Casas, J. & Ryan, C. (2010). How Latinos Are Transforming the United States: Research, Theory, and Policy. Journal Of Social Issues, 66(1), 1-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01629.x
Green, Erin Leigh, ‘Latinos in American schools’ (2013). Theses and Dissertations. Paper 85.
Noga O'Connor. (2009). Hispanic Origin, Socio-Economic Status, and Community College Enrollment. The Journal Of Higher Education, 80(2), 121-145. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/jhe.0.0038
Ryan, C.; Bauman, K. (2016). 'Educational Attainment in the United States: 2015' (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
