Research exploring the participation and retention of Latino/as in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) is still in its early stages, but it is shedding light on the lack of representation, why they occur, and what are the outcomes for those that remain in STEM. This review of the literature explores the barriers, stressors, and health issues that emerge for Latino/a STEM faculty. The review includes work on the comprehensive stress, discrimination, and other burdens that contribute to Latino/a faculty stress. Discrimination and socioeconomic status (SES) can operate in synergistic ways to diminish health and coping mechanisms. We address the professional and organizational contexts that Latino/a faculty face in the university environment and the health outcomes that potentially emerge as a result of their experiences within universities in the United States.
Abe-KimJ.TakeuchiD. T.HongS.ZaneN.SueS.SpencerM. S.AppelH.NicdaoE.AlegríaM. (2007). Use of mental health–related services among immigrant and US-born Asian Americans: Results from the National Latino and Asian American study. American Journal of Public Health, 97(1), 91–98.
2.
Abraído-LanzaA. F.EcheverríaS. E.FlórezK. R. (2016). Latino immigrants, acculturation, and health: Promising new directions in research. Annual Review of Public Health, 37, 219–236.
3.
AldecoaJ.MuñozJ. (2016). Mexican immigration and the struggle for civil rights. In HuertaA.Iglesias-PrietoN.BrownD. (Eds.), People of color in the United States (pp. 233–240). ABC-CLIO.
4.
AlegríaM.CaninoG.RíosR.VeraM.CalderónJ.RuschD.OrtegaA. N. (2002). Mental health care for Latinos: Inequalities in use of specialty mental health services among Latinos, African Americans, and non-Latino Whites. Psychiatric Services, 53(12), 1547–1555.
AraújoL.BorrellN. (2006). Understanding the link between discrimination, mental health outcomes, and life chances among Latinos. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 28(2), 245–266.
7.
ArellanoG. N.Jaime-AcuñaO.GraeveO. A.MadsenL. D. (2018). Latino engineering faculty in the United States. MRS Bulletin, 432(2), 131–147.
8.
BerdanierC.BaluniS.WhitehairC. (2017). Investigating strategies of pre-tenure women engineering faculty to overcome microaggressions in the classroom. IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 1–5. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8190636
9.
BerkmanL. F.GlassT.BrissetteI.SeemanT. E. (2000). From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Social Science & Medicine, 51(6), 843–857.
BowenD.M. (2012). Visibly invisible: Stigma and the burden of race, class and gender for female students of color striving for an academic career in the sciences. In Gutierrez y MuhsG.NiemannY.F.GonzalezC.G.HarrisA.P. (Eds.). Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (pp. 116–132), Logan, UT: Utah State University Press.
12.
BustamanteA.FangH.RizzoJ. A.OrtegaA. N. (2009). Understanding observed and unobserved health care access and utilization disparities among US Latino adults. Medical Care Research and Review, 665(5), 561–577.
13.
CabassaL. J.ZayasL. H.HansenM. C. (2006). Latino adults’ access to mental health care: A review of epidemiological studies. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 33(3), 316–330.
14.
CharlestonL.AdseriasR.LangN.JacksonJ. (2014). Intersectionality and STEM: The role of race and gender in the academic pursuits of African American women in STEM. Journal of Progressive Policy and Practice, 2(3), 273–293.
15.
ClancyK.LeeK.RodgersE. M.RicheyC. (2017). Double jeopardy in astronomy and planetary science: Women of color face greater risks of gendered and racial harassment. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 122(7), 1610–1623.
De CastroA. B.GeeG. C.TakeuchiD. T. (2008). Workplace discrimination and health among Filipinos in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 98(3), 520–526.
18.
DeCuir-GunbyJ. T.Long-MitchellL. A.GrantC. (2009). The emotionality of women professors of color in engineering: A critical race theory and critical race feminism perspective. In SchutzP.ZembylasM. (Eds.), Advances in teacher emotion research (pp. 323–342). Springer.
19.
DiazP.StahlJ.Lovis-McMahonD.KimS.KwanV. (2013). Pathways to health services utilization: Overcoming economic barriers through support mechanisms. Advances in Applied Sociology, 3(4), 193–198.
20.
DobsonP.SchnallL. (2009). From stress to distress: The impact of work on mental health. In SchnallP.DobsonM.RosskamE. (Eds.), Unhealthy work: Causes, consequences, cures (pp. 113–132). Baywood Publishing.
21.
D’SouzaR. M.StrazdinsL.LimL.BroomD. H.RodgersB. (2003). Work and health in a contemporary society: Demands, control, and insecurity. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 57(11), 849–854.
EricksonB. (2003). Social networks: The value of variety. Contexts, 2(1), 25–31.
24.
EvansT. M.BiraL.Beltran GastelumJ.WeissL. T.VanderfordN. L. (2018). Evidence for a mental health crisis in graduate education. Nature Biotechnology, 36(3), 282–284.
25.
FarmerK.FerraroF. (2005). Are racial disparities in health conditional on socioeconomic status?Social Science & Medicine, 60(1), 191–204.
26.
FerlanderS. (2007). The importance of different forms of social capital for health. Acta Sociologica, 50(2), 115–128.
27.
GanlyC. M.GeorgeC. E.CimpianJ. R.MakowskiM. B. (2018). Gender equity in college majors: Looking beyond the STEM/non-STEM dichotomy for answers regarding female participation. American Educational Research Journal, 55(3), 453–487.
HudsonD. L.BullardK. M.NeighborsH. W.GeronimusA. T.YangJ.JacksonJ. S. (2012). Are benefits conferred with greater socioeconomic position undermined by racial discrimination among African American men?Journal of Men’s Health, 9(2), 127–136.
31.
HundA. K.ChurchillA. C.FaistA. M.HavrillaC. A.StowellS. M. L.McCreeryH. F.NgJ.PinzoneC. A.ScordatoE. (2018). Transforming mentorship in STEM by training scientists to be better leaders. Ecology and Evolution, 8(20), 9962–9974.
32.
JettenJ.HaslamC.Alexander HaslamS.DingleG.JonesJ. M. (2014). How groups affect our health and well-being: The path from theory to policy. Social Issues and Policy Review, 8(1), 103–130.
33.
JimenezD. E.BartelsS. J.CardenasV.AlegríaM. (2013). Stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness among racial/ethnic older adults in primary care. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 28(10), 1061–1068.
KemsleyJ. (2017). Grappling with graduate student mental health and suicide. Chemical & Engineering News, 95(32), 28–33.
36.
LeaseS. H. (1999). Occupational role stressors, coping, support, and hardiness as predictors of strain in academic faculty: An emphasis on new and female faculty. Research in Higher Education, 30, 285–304.
37.
LevecqueK.AnseelF.De BeuckelaerA.Van der HeydenJ.GisleL. (2017). Work organization and mental health problems in PhD students. Research Policy, 46(4), 868–879.
Lorenzo-BlancoE. I.UngerJ. B. (2015). Ethnic discrimination, acculturative stress, and family conflict as predictors of depressive symptoms and cigarette smoking among Latina/o youth: The mediating role of perceived stress. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(10), 1984–1997.
MarinH.EscobarJ. I.VegaW. A. (2006). Mental illness in Hispanics: A review of the literature. Focus, 4(1), 23–37.
42.
MartinezI. L.Carter-PokrasO. (2006). Assessing health concerns and barriers in a heterogeneous Latino community. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 17(4), 899–909.
43.
McDonaldT.W.ToussaintL.L.SchweigerJ.A. (2004). The influence of social status on token women leaders’ expectations about leading male-dominated groups. Community and Environmental Health Faculty Publications and Presentations (Dissertation). Boise State University. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SERS.0000018894.96308.52
44.
McMahonM. R.MoraM. T.QubbajA. R. (2018). Advancing women in academic STEM fields through dual career policies and practices. Information Age.
45.
McNeelyC. L.HopewellL.FealingK. H. (2018). The science of broadening participation in STEM: A symposium discourse analysis. American Behavioral Scientist, 62(5), 698–718.
46.
MedinaC.LunaG. (2000). Narratives from Latina professors in higher education. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 31(1), 47–66.
47.
MeulemansP. (2019). The voice of Latinas persisting in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics: A phenomenological study. Liberty University.
48.
MinerK. N.SettlesI. H.Pratt-HyattJ. S.BradyC. C. (2012). Experiencing incivility in organizations: The buffering effects of emotional and organizational support. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42(2), 340–372.
49.
MolinaK. M.SimonY. (2014). Everyday discrimination and chronic health conditions among Latinos: The moderating role of socioeconomic position. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 37(5), 868–880.
50.
MoraM. T.QubbajA. R.RodríguezH. (2018). Advancing Latinas and other women in STEM through dual career hiring. In McMahonM. R.MoraM.T.QubbajA.R. (eds.) Advancing women in academic STEM fields through dual career policies and practices (pp. 97–114). Information Age.
51.
MuñozJ.CollazoJ. (2019). Promoting health from outside the state: La comunidad, migrants, and hometown associations. Migration Letters, 16(2), 155–164.
52.
MyersH. F.WyattG. E.UllmanJ. B.LoebT. B.ChinD.PrauseN.ZhangM.WilliamsJ. K.SlavichG. M.LiuH. (2015). Cumulative burden of lifetime adversities: Trauma and mental health in low-SES African Americans and Latino/as. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 73(3), 243–251.
NewmanC. B. (2015). Rethinking race in student-faculty interactions and mentoring Relationships with undergraduate African American engineering and computer science majors. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 21(4), 323–346.
55.
O’MearaK.Jo LennartzC.KuvaevaA.JaegerA.MisraJ. (2019). Department conditions and practices associated with faculty workload satisfaction and perceptions of equity. The Journal of Higher Education, 90, 744–772.
PutnamR. D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The collapse and revival of American community. Simon & Schuster.
61.
RectoP.ChampionJ. D. (2016). Psychological distress and associated factors among Mexican American adolescent females. Hispanic Health Care International, 14(4), 170–176.
62.
Sanchez-PeñaM.MainJ.SambamurthyN.CoxM.McGeeE. (2016). The factors affecting the persistence of Latina faculty: A literature review using the intersectionality of race, gender, and class. In 2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) (pp. 1–9). https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7757519
63.
SaniF.HerreraM.WakefieldJ. R. H.BorochO.GulyasC. (2012). Comparing social contact and group identification as predictors of mental health. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51(4), 781–790.
64.
SantosM. M.NagyG. A.Diéguez HurtadoG.WestP.Santiago-RiveraA. L.LeeH.KanterJ. W. (2017). Acculturative stress as a moderator of treatment engagement and retention in behavioral activation and treatment as usual for Latinos with depression. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 5(4), 275–289.
65.
ShermanD. K.KiniasZ.MajorB.KimH. S.PrenovostM. (2007). The group as a resource: Reducing biased attributions for group success and failure via group affirmation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33(8), 1100–1112.
66.
SmithJ. W.CalasantiT. (2005). The influences of gender, race and ethnicity on workplace experiences of institutional and social isolation: An exploratory study of university faculty. Sociological Spectrum, 25(3), 307–334.
67.
ThoitsP. A. (2010). Stress and health: Major findings and policy implications. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(1), S41–S53.
68.
ThoitsP. A. (2013). Self, identity, stress, and mental health. In AneshenselC. S.PhelanJ. C.BiermanA. (Eds.), The handbook of the sociology of mental health: Surveying the field (pp. 357–377). Springer.
69.
TorresL.DriscollM. W.BurrowA. (2010). Racial microaggressions and psychological functioning among highly achieving African-Americans: A mixed-methods approach. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 29(10), 1074–1099.
70.
TorresL.TaknintJ. T. (2015). Ethnic microaggressions, traumatic stress symptoms, and Latino depression: A moderated mediational model. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 62(3), 393–401.
71.
TsuiL. (2007). Effective strategies to increase diversity in STEM fields: A review of the research literature. The Journal of Negro Education, 555–581.
72.
VandermindenJ.EsalaJ. J. (2019). Beyond symptoms: Race and gender predict anxiety disorder diagnosis. Society and Mental Health, 9(1), 111–125.
73.
VillanuevaI.CarothersT.Di StefanoM.KhanM. (2018). “There is never a break”: The hidden curriculum of professionalization for engineering faculty. Education Sciences, 8(4), Article 57.
74.
VillanuevaI.Di StefanoM.GellesL.ViciosoP.BensonS. (2019). A race re-imaged, intersectional approach to academic mentoring: Exploring the perspectives and responses of womxn in science and engineering research. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 59, 1–17.
75.
VillatoroA. P.MaysV. M.PonceN. A.AneshenselC. S. (2018). Perceived need for mental health care: The intersection of race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. Society and Mental Health, 8(1), 1–24.
76.
WalkingtonL. (2017). How far have we really come? Black women faculty and graduate students’ experiences in higher education. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 1(39), 51–65.
77.
WattsJ.RobertsonN. (2011). Burnout in university teaching staff: A systematic literature review. Educational Research, 53(1), 33–50.
78.
WilliamsD. R. (2003). The health of men: Structured inequalities and opportunities. American Journal of Public Health, 93(5), 724–731.
79.
WilliamsD. R.MohammedS. A. (2009). Discrimination and racial disparities in health: Evidence and needed research. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 32(1), 20–47.
80.
WilliamsD. R.SternthalM. (2010). Understanding racial-ethnic disparities in health: Sociological contributions. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(1), S15–S27.
81.
ZambranaR. E. (2018). Toxic ivory towers: The consequences of work stress on underrepresented minority faculty. Rutgers University Press.
