Anchoring comunidad: how first- and continuing-generation Latinx students in STEM engage community cultural wealth

Abstract

Using a phenomenological approach, we interviewed 16 Latinx college students pursuing STEM degrees at four Northeastern universities to explore the forms of capital that first- and continuing-generation Latinx students use as they enter and navigate postsecondary STEM pathways. Findings suggest that both first- and continuing-generation Latinx students in STEM entered college with community cultural wealth (CCW). Unlike their first-generation peers, however, continuing-generation Latinx students also entered their institutions with traditional (i.e. Bourdieuian) forms of capital. Students who entered college utilizing CCW, however, engaged various ‘moves’ or acts of resistance in response to the incongruence between these forms of capital and their institution’s values and expectations. In this way, students’ ‘moves’ became ways of resisting postsecondary spaces.

Keywords:

• Latinx
• college students
• capital
• community cultural wealth
• STEM

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by National Science Foundation [1619629].

Notes on contributors

Blanca E. Rincón

Blanca Rincón is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her research agenda is concerned with equity issues in higher education, with a specific focus on access and success for underrepresented and underserved students (e.g., women, low-income, first-generation, and students of color) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Her research has been published in Equity & Excellence in Education, Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, and Studies of Higher Education.

Érica Fernández

Érica Fernández, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at Miami University. Her research is focused on centering, listening to and sharing the educational engagement experiences of Parents of Color, particularly the experiences of Spanish-speaking Latinx immigrant parents living amid threatening and hostile anti-immigrant environments. She hopes that the narratives of Latinx immigrant parents will help highlight how oppressive institutional policies create barriers for authentic engagement within schools. Other research interests include family and community partnerships as well as family engagement policy initiatives (at the local, state, and federal level). Her research has been published in Equity & Excellence in Education, Journal of Research in Leadership Education, Educational Policy, and other scholarly journals.

Mary C. Dueñas

Mary Dueñas is a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mary's research explores the educational, cultural, and personal experiences of Latinx college students at four-year institutions. She has published in the Journal of College Student Development and is currently the co-director for an educational research program. She has also worked in multiple student development capacities as a student liaison, student ambassador, teacher, and academic coach. Mary has presented her research at multiple national conferences and is a member of the National Latin@ Psychological Association, American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, and Association for the Study of Higher Education.