Date of Award
8-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Organizational Unit
Graduate School of Social Work
First Advisor
Jennifer Greenfield
Second Advisor
Yolanda Anyon
Third Advisor
Lisa Martinez
Fourth Advisor
Johnny Kim
Fifth Advisor
Carlos Jimenez Jr.
Keywords
Community cultural wealth, Higher education, Latinx, Latinx critical theory
Abstract
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.
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.
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.
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.
Copyright Date
8-2023
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Miguel A. Trujillo
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
131 pgs
File Size
569 KB
Recommended Citation
Trujillo, Miguel A., "Exploring the Intersectional Higher Education Experiences of Latinx Students" (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2328.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2328
Discipline
Hispanic American studies, Higher education, Social work