Exploring the Intersectional Higher Education Experiences of Latinx Students

<p>The intersectional experiences of Latinx students in higher education have largely gone underexplored in the literature, particularly when it comes to Latino men. The current literature treats the experiences of the Latinx community as a monolith, when there are multiple potentially impactful intersectional aspects of identity that could influence our lived experiences, such as generational status, documentation status, country of origin, and gender. This three-manuscript dissertation addresses these gaps in the literature by both conducting research that is more descriptive of our respective within-group community and by focusing on the impact that gender may play in the experiences of Latinx students in higher education.</p> <p>The first manuscript draws from both Latinx critical theory and community cultural wealth to propose a framework that allows for an intersectional, strengths-based exploration of the Latinx experience in research. While community cultural wealth is already theoretically rooted in Latinx critical theory, often it is not utilized as such in the existing literature. This paper urges those using community cultural wealth to return to the intersectional principles of critical theory for the betterment of our research and communities.</p> <p>The second manuscript is a qualitative phenomenological study that builds upon this framework by using community cultural wealth to analyze secondary data collected by researchers at the University of Denver. The gendered experiences of first generation, documented, higher education students of Mexican origin in Colorado are explored. Findings provide evidence of navigational, resistant, and social cultural wealth, while suggesting possible gendered differences in family dynamics, on campus programming, and non-institutionalized social support.</p> <p>The final manuscript is similar in methods to the second, as a phenomenological study utilizing community cultural wealth in the analysis of a gendered, first generation, documented, experience of higher education students of Mexican origin. This study uses primary data collected from former participants in an after-school program to determine what elements of the program contributed to their cultural wealth and how those experiences differed in higher education. Findings suggest long term mentoring relationships as impactful to the success of these students, while affirming possible gendered differences in family dynamics and on campus programming.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year dc:date.available

2023

Author dc:creator

• Trujillo, Miguel A.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jennifer Greenfield
• Yolanda Anyon
• Lisa Martinez
• Johnny Kim
• Carlos Jimenez Jr.

• Community cultural wealth
• Higher education
• Latinx
• Latinx critical theory
• Arts and Humanities
• Education
• Latina/o Studies
• Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies
• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Social Work

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

English (eng)

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2328

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-3316