Latin@ advocacy in the hyphen: faculty identity and commitment in a Hispanic‐serving institution

This study examines our experiences as female junior scholars with multicultural backgrounds teaching at the same Hispanic‐serving institution. As education scholars with mixed‐heritage families, we identify with the commitment to serving Latinos and the number of mixed‐heritage people in the USA. The election of Barack Obama, whose racial background is both black and white, to the US presidency signifies the emergence of mixed‐heritage people as a demographic presence in this country. Our research suggests that more understanding is needed about the experiences of mixed‐heritage faculty in academia, as well as the ways in which faculty from any background may develop multiple affiliations with cultural communities and pursue professional agendas related to communities that they do not neatly fit into. Despite this variation in backgrounds and research agendas, we share our efforts in advancing Latin@ educational attainment.     

Latinas/os succeeding in academia: the effect of mentors and multiethnic coursework

Academia often devalues diverse identities, cultures, and languages through emphasis placed on academic values. To ascertain how established and new Latina/o academics achieved success in academia, the author conducted interviews with ten Latina/o academics; they noted mentoring and multiethnic coursework as influential in their success as academics. The author suggests mentoring practices and multiethnic courses should be receptive and sensitive to the complexities and varieties of cultural and linguistic identities, thereby identifying a balance between recognizing diverse language and cultural practices in academia while avoiding generalizations and assumptions about ethnic groups. The author offers implications for practice and research.     

Internalized Racism,Perceived Racism,and Ethnic Identity: Exploring Their Relationship in Latina/o Undergraduates

For Latina/o undergraduates, ethnic identity is an important construct linked to self‐esteem and educational attainment. Internalized and perceived racism have been hypothesized to hinder ethnic identity development in Latina/o undergraduates. To assess if internalized and perceived racism were inversely related to ethnic identity, the author conducted a hierarchical linear regression with 373 Latina/o undergraduates. There was a significant relationship between internalized racism and ethnic identity. Findings indicate a need to challenge internalized racism in Latina/o undergraduates.     

Caribbean and Central American women’s feminist inquiry through theater-based action research

Feminist action research interrogates gendered dynamics in the development of a collective consciousness. A group of immigrant Latina women (Latinas) from the Caribbean and Central America employed community-based theater as an instrument to mobilize diverse audiences against discriminatory practices and policies. Based on their theater work, I present two interrelated arguments. First, Latinas’ knowledge construction in multiple arenas counteracts gendered and racialized immigration discourses while leading to fundamental sociocultural transformations. Second, deeper epistemological rigor is needed in feminist action research to uphold Latin American women’s agency while countering pervasive discrimination.     

Achieving Latina students: Aspirational counterstories and critical reflections on parental community cultural wealth

In this study, six Latina students shared perceptions of their parental influence on their educational aspirations. CRT, LatCrit, and community cultural wealth provide the tripartite framework for analyzing issues of race, class, gender, language, culture, and immigration by examining their roles in society through counterstories. Learning in an after-school program about educational advancement, these participants navigated against deficit ideology. Messages of aspirational hope, navigational inspiration, Spanish language guidance, familial kinship, social networking, and resistant intelligence enabled these students to build a foundation of personal emancipation to disrupt the systemic sociopolitical and sociocultural nature of oppression.     

Critical qualitative research as a means to advocate for Latinas in STEM

Abstract

The current administration of the United States has brought to the forefront the hostile sociopolitical climate found within this diverse country as Americans continue to grapple with the intentional, residual effects of the systemic maintenance of oppression. The purpose of this study is to understand the perceptions of climate in the persistence of Latinas pursuing an undergraduate engineering degree. More specifically, this empirical study utilized critical consciousness to frame the counternarratives of how 11 Latinas experience their double bind status in engineering. The subsequent three themes emerged from data analysis: (1) desiring to relate to minoritized populations/women; (2) experiencing sexism on a pervasive level; and (3) discrediting their engineering competency. The authors then offer policy recommendations based on the findings.     

Sexting and Sexuality in Romantic Relationships Among Latina/o Emerging Adults

In a sample of 114 Latina/o emerging adults, ages 18 to 29, this study investigated the frequency of sexting, and gender differences in this behavior, and if sexting was related to a range of sexuality variables, including sexual satisfaction, sexual experience, sexual pleasure, and sexual permissiveness. Results show that a total of 63 (55.26%) of the sample adults had engaged in sexting behavior in the past 6 months with their romantic partner. No gender differences were found on the sexuality variables. After controlling for acculturation and comfort with sexting, hierarchical multiple regression showed that the only variable significantly related to sexting was sexual behavior. Suggestions for future research on sexting among Latinas/os in relationships and how results of this study may inform sexuality education in this group are provided.     

Urban Immigrant Students: How Transnationalism Shapes Their World Learning

This article examines the lives of three transnational second-generation immigrant Latinas who reside in urban centers in California and maintain close ties to Mexico. Drawing from a participatory research and ethnographic study, I provide evidence of the out-of-school learning that they experience and how this shapes their notions of global citizenship. Although schools have begun to slowly recognize transnational immigrant students, many urban educators whose cities are palpably transformed by immigrants have not fully connected the promise of such a global lifestyle and its potential for instruction in the classroom.

Support networks among college enrolled Latinas/os: Using ego networks to examine gender differences in network language use and experiences of discrimination

The growth of the Latina/o population has been met with a backlash that has increased experiences of discrimination. Differences in gender, education, and acculturation often result in experiences of discrimination. Despite the importance of acculturation, few attempts have been made to understand the structural environment surrounding those experiences (i.e., social networks). Using ego network data, the current study examines the relationship between enculturation (a traditional indicator of acculturation), network language use, acculturative pressures, structural social support characteristics, and experiences of discrimination among a college-enrolled sample of Latinas/os (N = 139). Over half of respondents were female (61 %) with ages ranging from 18 to 63 and reported largely first (43 %) and second generational status (27 %). Findings indicate that pressure to acculturate was the strongest variable associated with experiences of discrimination. Network language use moderated by gender emerged over enculturation as more closely related to experiences of discrimination. The interaction term between gender and network language use revealed potentially different risk and protective factors for Latinas/os related to experiences of discrimination. Structural support variables associated with respondents’ social networks appear to provide some protective value but do not attenuate the relationship between pressure to acculturate and experiences of discrimination. In the current study, ego networks proved useful in identifying factors related to experiences of discrimination. Future research should continue to explore the importance of a person’s immediate social structure (i.e., ego networks) in protecting and exposing Latinas/os to harmful and health benefiting experiences.