Snapshots of Everyday Affirmations Captured Through Critical Race Photovoice: Seven Women’s Strategies to Deploy Asset-Based Resources During Their College Transition

ABSTRACT

There is limited understanding of how women of Mexican heritage transform cultural and familial protective factors into strategies to help navigate their education. This study helps bridge the gap between students’ cultural wealth and the ways they utilize this protective factor in college. I analyzed the strategies used by seven first-generation college women of Mexican heritage and captured them through participant-produced photographs. Specifically, visual snapshots of the ways they chose to deploy their cultural wealth or asset-based resources were provided. The display of family photographs, collages, and religious statues reflected, accommodated, and validated their precollege assets and resources to incorporate their cultural wealth while navigating the first year in college. The women stayed connected with their precollege protective factors that include their family history, familial-cultural assets, and family resilience as they transitioned to college life. This study supports efforts to support educational excellence, equity, and justice for first-generation college women of Mexican heritage.

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

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Janet Rocha

Dr Janet Rocha is a research assistant professor and trained social research methodologist. She is both theorizing and developing new and robust methodologies for studying college access, transitions, and persistence from a cultural perspective. Her areas of expertise include supporting and validating student experiences in educational settings and implementing high-impact practices to address issues of equity, inclusion, and diversity. As a transformative scholar and educator, her research aims to empower students across contexts through asset-based ideologies, research, and practices.