At the time of this study, data revealed student affairs professionals were exiting the profession at high rates (Chamberlain et al., 2022). This rate was higher among new student affairs professionals (Buchanan & Shupp, 2015). Professionals in the field face common challenges including low job satisfaction and high levels of burnout (Aros, 2022; Chamberlain et al., 2022; Quaye et al., 2024) and a lack of appropriate supervision (Shupp & Arminio, 2012) and mentoring opportunities (Aros, 2022; Maramba, 2011). However, people of color and women in the profession face additional challenges, including racial battle fatigue (Quaye et al., 2024), racism and microaggressions (Briscoe, 2022; Garcia, 2016; Núñez et al., 2025), and tokenism (Bizzell, 2024; Maramba, 2011). Researchers have investigated the experiences of senior-level women of color student affairs professionals, yet existing research has failed to center the experiences of early-career women of color in student affairs. The purpose of this narrative inquiry study was to better understand the experiences of early-career women of color in student affairs. The researcher used critical race feminism as a theoretical framework to understand the impact of coparticipants’ races and genders on their experiences and perceptions of institutional resources and support. The findings, presented as four composite narratives, revealed coparticipants perceived their experiences as shaped by the challenges of navigating primarily White spaces, others’ attitudes toward them because of their ages, their communities of support, positive and negative supervisory experiences, a decline in mental health and burnout, their passion for supporting students, and feeling undervalued and undercompensated.
","abstract_html":"<p>At the time of this study, data revealed student affairs professionals were exiting the profession at high rates (Chamberlain et al., 2022). This rate was higher among new student affairs professionals (Buchanan & Shupp, 2015). Professionals in the field face common challenges including low job satisfaction and high levels of burnout (Aros, 2022; Chamberlain et al., 2022; Quaye et al., 2024) and a lack of appropriate supervision (Shupp & Arminio, 2012) and mentoring opportunities (Aros, 2022; Maramba, 2011). However, people of color and women in the profession face additional challenges, including racial battle fatigue (Quaye et al., 2024), racism and microaggressions (Briscoe, 2022; Garcia, 2016; Núñez et al., 2025), and tokenism (Bizzell, 2024; Maramba, 2011). Researchers have investigated the experiences of senior-level women of color student affairs professionals, yet existing research has failed to center the experiences of early-career women of color in student affairs. The purpose of this narrative inquiry study was to better understand the experiences of early-career women of color in student affairs. The researcher used critical race feminism as a theoretical framework to understand the impact of coparticipants’ races and genders on their experiences and perceptions of institutional resources and support. The findings, presented as four composite narratives, revealed coparticipants perceived their experiences as shaped by the challenges of navigating primarily White spaces, others’ attitudes toward them because of their ages, their communities of support, positive and negative supervisory experiences, a decline in mental health and burnout, their passion for supporting students, and feeling undervalued and undercompensated.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Jin-Leyva, Nora Anitzya"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Education, PhD","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"School of Educational Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dina Maramba","Cristina Alfaro","Mónica Baldonado-Ruiz"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2026,"date_issued":"2026-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2026-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:41:17Z","subjects":["early-career","entry-level","higher education","narrative inquiry","student affairs","women of color","Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/1107","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dina Maramba","Cristina Alfaro","Mónica Baldonado-Ruiz"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Jin-Leyva, Nora Anitzya"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2026-06-17T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["School of Educational Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Education, PhD"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["early-career","entry-level","higher education","narrative inquiry","student affairs","women of color","Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/1107"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["At the time of this study, data revealed student affairs professionals were exiting the profession at high rates (Chamberlain et al., 2022). This rate was higher among new student affairs professionals (Buchanan & Shupp, 2015). Professionals in the field face common challenges including low job satisfaction and high levels of burnout (Aros, 2022; Chamberlain et al., 2022; Quaye et al., 2024) and a lack of appropriate supervision (Shupp & Arminio, 2012) and mentoring opportunities (Aros, 2022; Maramba, 2011). However, people of color and women in the profession face additional challenges, including racial battle fatigue (Quaye et al., 2024), racism and microaggressions (Briscoe, 2022; Garcia, 2016; Núñez et al., 2025), and tokenism (Bizzell, 2024; Maramba, 2011). Researchers have investigated the experiences of senior-level women of color student affairs professionals, yet existing research has failed to center the experiences of early-career women of color in student affairs. The purpose of this narrative inquiry study was to better understand the experiences of early-career women of color in student affairs. The researcher used critical race feminism as a theoretical framework to understand the impact of coparticipants’ races and genders on their experiences and perceptions of institutional resources and support. The findings, presented as four composite narratives, revealed coparticipants perceived their experiences as shaped by the challenges of navigating primarily White spaces, others’ attitudes toward them because of their ages, their communities of support, positive and negative supervisory experiences, a decline in mental health and burnout, their passion for supporting students, and feeling undervalued and undercompensated.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Narrative Inquiry of Early-Career Women of Color in Student Affairs"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dina Maramba","Cristina Alfaro","Mónica Baldonado-Ruiz"],"dc:creator":["Jin-Leyva, Nora Anitzya"],"dc:date.available":["2026-06-17T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["At the time of this study, data revealed student affairs professionals were exiting the profession at high rates (Chamberlain et al., 2022). This rate was higher among new student affairs professionals (Buchanan & Shupp, 2015). Professionals in the field face common challenges including low job satisfaction and high levels of burnout (Aros, 2022; Chamberlain et al., 2022; Quaye et al., 2024) and a lack of appropriate supervision (Shupp & Arminio, 2012) and mentoring opportunities (Aros, 2022; Maramba, 2011). However, people of color and women in the profession face additional challenges, including racial battle fatigue (Quaye et al., 2024), racism and microaggressions (Briscoe, 2022; Garcia, 2016; Núñez et al., 2025), and tokenism (Bizzell, 2024; Maramba, 2011). Researchers have investigated the experiences of senior-level women of color student affairs professionals, yet existing research has failed to center the experiences of early-career women of color in student affairs. The purpose of this narrative inquiry study was to better understand the experiences of early-career women of color in student affairs. The researcher used critical race feminism as a theoretical framework to understand the impact of coparticipants’ races and genders on their experiences and perceptions of institutional resources and support. The findings, presented as four composite narratives, revealed coparticipants perceived their experiences as shaped by the challenges of navigating primarily White spaces, others’ attitudes toward them because of their ages, their communities of support, positive and negative supervisory experiences, a decline in mental health and burnout, their passion for supporting students, and feeling undervalued and undercompensated.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/1107"],"dc:subject":["early-career","entry-level","higher education","narrative inquiry","student affairs","women of color","Education"],"dc:title":["A Narrative Inquiry of Early-Career Women of Color in Student Affairs"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["School of Educational Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Education, PhD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:41:17Z"}