"Never give up. Fight for what you believe in": Perceptions of how Latina/o adolescents can make a difference

Latina/o adolescents have been described as less likely to participate in volunteer and civic activities relative to other youth. The present study elicited Latina/o youths' own views of how they can make a difference in their communities.

Latina/o high school students (N = 686; one third males; M_age = 16.3, SD = 1.2) responded in writing to the open-ended question, "How do you think that Latina and Latino young people can make a difference in our communities?" Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Four categories (community, education, advocacy, and culture) emerged from the data, with 2 to 7 themes within each category, reflecting diverse and robust pathways by which Latina/o youth believe they can make a difference. We explore these results with respect to types of civic engagement, sociopolitical development, and manifestations of the components of critical consciousness: critical reflection, critical agency, and critical action.

Assessment of Latina/o youth civic engagement should be expanded to better reflect Latina/o youth agency, contributions, and assets. In particular, educational persistence and cultural pride may be seen as forms of resistance reflective of sociopolitical civic engagement (Checkoway & Aldana, 2013). Responses manifest components of the developmental asset of critical consciousness. Schools and communities should recognize, affirm, and support the pathways by which Latina/o youth contribute and build their efficacy for such engagement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).