Hmong American College Students: A Qualitative Study on the Factors that Influence and Motivate College Going.

Abstract

College choice has a rich and lengthy body of literature spanning across multiple disciplines such as economics, sociology, and higher education, exploring the college process of students. It has provided a framework for understanding how students decide to go to college and has identified critical steps necessary for successful navigation of the college process. However, gaps are present in the examination Hmong American college process. This gap is addressed in this study. This investigation answered four questions: What social and cultural factors are influential for Hmong college students, in their decision to go to college? How does family and culture influence the development of postsecondary aspirations and eventual postsecondary enrollment among Hmong undergraduates? What role do college costs play in the college decision process? And what barriers stood in the way of students’ college process?

This qualitative study examined the educational decision process of Hmong American college students (n=34) enrolled at four-year colleges. The purpose of the study was to understand the motivational factors that influenced Hmong students’ decision to go to college. According to the 2010 Census, 35.5 percent of the Hmong community had less than a high school education, compared to 14.4 percent for the overall U.S. population. Additionally, compared to 27.9 percent of the U.S. population, only 14.4 percent of the Hmong population had a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

Hmong American students revealed three key forces influencing their decisions to go to college: 1) role of family and culture in motivating and influencing their educational aspirations; 2) role of social capital, identified as role models, mentors, and gatekeepers; and 3) role of cultural capital and the influence college knowledge (or lack of) had on their college process, especially as it related to concerns about costs. Additionally, students’ Hmong culture was found to have contradictory influence on students’ college process, which had supportive and constraining impact on their college process. The results of this study informed the development of a two-stage predisposition model. This model is proposed as a more comprehensive framework to understanding the college process of Hmong American students.