ABSTRACT
As we enter the twenty-first century, one of the most hotly debated issues is that of the educational preparation of students (specifically of underrepresented groups) for the new technological world we will face in the near future, if it is already not upon us. There are those who would have us believe that great strides have been made with regard to the representation of minorities in all aspects of higher education, that a larger number of minorities are graduating from high school and attending college. There are those who propose that access to higher education should be based simply on merit and that present interpretations of Affirmative Action and college admissions policies embrace equality and equity for all involved. And then there are those who put forth the notion that the increases in number of students of color in postsecondary institutions are a testament to true access. Is this access to higher education for underrepresented groups a reality or merely an illusion? Darder, Torres, and Gutierrez (1997, p. xiii) make note that “… despite thirty years of educational reforms, Latino students continue to lag behind students from the dominant culture…” and that “… the proportion of Latino students enrolled in colleges and universities and those who graduate from high school prepared for admission to higher education remains low. As a body of scholarly research begins to evolve, it appears that these [facts] have been chronic over at least the past thirty years.”
