UT-Austin Professor Works To Close Latino Gender Gap in Higher Ed: Latino males have some of the nation’s lowest college enrollment and completion rates. While their numbers at colleges and universities have increased in the last 20 years, they have failed to keep pace with other ethnic groups.
The gender gap among Latinos on the nation’s campuses has also widened. Last month, the American Council on Education released a report that showed that while the gender gap in higher education has stabilized, it continues to expand among Latinos.
Dr. Victor Saenz, an assistant professor of higher education administration at The University of Texas at Austin, has been at the forefront of this issue and on a crusade to move policymakers to action before it’s too late. Latinos are the nation’s fastest-growing ethnic group. They account for 15.4 percent of the nation’s population—a figure that is expected to double in 40 years.
Saenz believes these low numbers could have dire consequences for the nation’s future and its prosperity.
