La Importancia de la Hermandad Latina: Examining the Psychosociocultural Influences of Latina-Based Sororities on Academic Persistence Decisions

Using a psychosociocultural (PSC) approach, we examined how self-beliefs, social support, and cultural fit influenced the academic persistence decisions of 115 Latina sorority members. Upper-division Latinas reported higher self-efficacy than lower-division Latinas; however, lower-division students reported higher college stress and more perceived social support from their sorority sisters than their upper-division counterparts. Yet the relationship of perceived social support from sorority sisters and academic persistence decisions was stronger for the upper-division Latinas than the lower-division. Finally, the PSC dimensions collectively accounted for 43% of the variance of academic persistence decisions, with the self-beliefs dimension individually accounting for the most variance; perception of the university environment, however, emerged as the single strongest predictor. Implications for student affairs professionals and Latina sorority members and nonmembers are discussed.