Written by Jorge Burmicky, Ph.D., and Antonio Duran, Ph.D.

The pursuit of higher education continues to be a central promise for millions of families in the United States. This reality is especially true for Latinx/a/o communities, as researchers have shown that Latinx/a/o students are highly motivated to seek education beyond high school because of the college-going culture that is instilled at home. Many Latinx/a/o college students are the first in their families to go to college, which shows the degree to which Latinx/a/o families value education. Undoubtedly, Latinx/a/o ganas and resilience continue to fuel the strength of communities across the country.

Given that Latinx/a/o students are one of the fastest growing groups in higher education, it is imperative for our institutions to be led by Latinx/a/o leaders. Yet, Latinx/a/o senior leaders remain scarce throughout the senior executive ranks. For instance, according to the most comprehensive longitudinal survey administered by the American Council on Education, Latinx/a/o college presidents represent less than four percent of all college presidencies (Gagliardi et al., 2017). Ultimately, we believe all students deserve to see themselves represented at the highest levels of leadership.

As scholar-practitioners committed to shedding light on the experiences of Latinx/a/o professionals in higher education, we found it important to reflect upon the current state of the literature about  senior-level Latinx/a/o administrators. In particular, we thought it was necessary  to examine what researchers were saying about the challenges and opportunities that are available to Latinx/a/o higher education leaders, which we could then extend to draw insights specific to Latinx/a/o presidents. To do so, we conducted  a systematic literature review looking for peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and book chapters published on Latinx/a/o presidents, provosts, as well as other senior-level postsecondary education administrators. We specifically searched for research between 2000–2022, wanting to obtain contemporary perspectives on the phenomenon of leadership for Latinx/a/o presidents. In total, we located 57 pieces of literature, including research that we have published ourselves.

In reviewing scholarship on Latinx/a/o senior-level leaders, we found several themes that are of interest to readers. To begin, many articles we reviewed discussed how Latinx/a/o senior leaders credited their journeys to their life experiences and formative educational training. In these pieces, we saw how notable families were in helping Latinx/a/o leaders develop the skills and perseverance necessary to obtain their roles. Other studies showed how these administrators viewed their identities and backgrounds as catalysts for the work that they do, naming how valuable it is to reflect on their life experiences to keep them grounded in their work.

Similarly,  Latinx/a/o senior leaders described how their leadership approaches stemmed from important cultural values, especially when navigating educational systems that perpetuate cultural norms entrenched in whiteness. Yet, in the process of enacting their leadership, Latinx/a/o senior leaders inevitably encounter structural and institutional barriers. Latinx/a/o leaders could detail how racism and other oppressive systems affected their work. An important point to highlight is that our review illustrated how more and more scholars are bringing attention to the numerous forms of oppression that Latinx/a/o senior leaders face. For instance, researchers are increasingly calling attention to the realities of Latina leaders, leading us to wonder how we will acquire insight into other groups (e.g., non-binary and trans Latinx/a/o people, those with disabilities).

Finally, and perhaps most relevant to the Hispanic Outlook audience, we read countless articles emphasizing the importance of developing leadership pipelines and culturally responsive mentoring to move people into these roles. Moreover, mentoring other Latinx/a/o leaders, especially those striving for the presidency, is paramount in the current moment.

Given the insights we gained from exploring the literature, we offer some takeaways for readers. We asked ourselves, ¿y ahora qué? We believe more than ever before, that this is the time to ignite nationwide coalition efforts to uplift the communities we care most about. For so long, our nation has been divided by hatred and polarization, and our elected officials have fallen short of materializing our collective efforts into policy, which ultimately affects marginalized communities of color the most. As many of our family members would say, it is time to say, ¡ya basta!, and we must have our professional associations, advocacy groups, and grassroots organizations inform our policymaking. This includes, but is not limited to, organizations such as the American Association of Hispanics of Higher Education (AAHHE), which brought us together to write this piece. If we want more Latinx/a/o leaders to lead our institutions of higher education, we must take these steps now.

For current Latinx/a/o senior leaders, this imperative means we must ensure the inclusion of every group to build our collective strength, including AfroLatinx/a/o, undocu/DACAmented, incarcerated/formerly incarcerated, and LGBTQ+ voices. We know the Latinx/a/o community is rich and diverse, and we must leverage our strength to form a more robust coalition that will enact the type of change we want.

We conclude our piece with a few questions from our review of the literature that Latinx/a/o leaders should be pondering:

1. How are my efforts inclusive of voices at the margins? Similarly, how are those same voices ignored at my workplace?

2. How am I contributing to nurturing the pipeline of the next generation of Latinx/a/o leaders? How is this pipeline representative of the diverse makeup of my local community?

3. What role do I play in challenging the status quo, namely how racism, white supremacy, and sexism inform our organizational policies and practices? Similarly, can we identify how our policies and practices foment anti-Black/LGBTQ+/women sentiment? What actions–big and small–should I take to stop this?

References

Gagliardi, J., Espinosa, L., Turk, J., & Taylor, M. (2017). American College President Study 2017. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.

Authors’ Bios

Jorge Burmicky (he/él) is an assistant professor of higher education leadership and policy studies at Howard University. Jorge’s research examines leadership in higher education, with an emphasis on presidential leadership at minority-serving institutions (MSIs), community colleges, and broadly accessible institutions. He can be reached at jorge.burmicky@howard.edu; 254.7493806

Antonio Duran (he/él) is an assistant professor of higher and postsecondary education at Arizona State University. Antonio’s research largely interrogates how historical and contemporary legacies of oppression shape the experiences of minoritized students, staff, and faculty on college campuses.