University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2017 Examining the Experiences of Latino/a Parents of First-Generation College Students Pursuing a Doctoral Degree Natalia Toro University of Central Florida Part of the Educational Leadership Commons, and the Higher Education Administration Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. STARS Citation Toro, Natalia, "Examining the Experiences of Latino/a Parents of First-Generation College Students Pursuing a Doctoral Degree" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 5385. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/5385 EXAMINING THE EXPERIENCES OF LATINO/A PARENTS OF FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS PURSUING A DOCTORAL DEGREE by NATALIA LEAL TORO B.A. Rollins College, 2003 M.Ed. University of Florida, 2006 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Child, Family, and Community Sciences in the College of Education and Human Performance at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2017 Major Professor: Rosa Cintrón © 2017 Natalia Leal Toro ii ABSTRACT Research points to Latino/a parents as an important source of motivation and support for high achieving Latino/a students who are the first in their families to go to college (Arellano & Padilla, 2006; Gándara, 1982; 1994; Hurtado & Sinha, 2006; Zalaquett, 2005); however, very little is known about their experience as they parent children whose educational paths are so different from their own.