“I’m the One Who Pieces Back Together What Was Broken”: Uncovering Mestiza Consciousness in Latina-Identified First-Generation College Student Narratives of Stress and Coping in Higher Education

Abstract

This study uncovers how 15 Latina-identified first-generation college students draw from mestiza consciousness to develop coping strategies for navigating multiple worlds of family, community, and higher education. The findings suggest that Latina-identified first-generation college students develop mestiza consciousness by (a) (un)consciously drawing from their strengths, (b) reframing their academic experiences even amid struggle through self-talk, and (c) drawing knowledge and motivation from their own selves and, at times, from family and trained therapists. By attending to the fragmentation that occurs from tensions experienced by Latina-identified first-generation college students, colleges and universities can offer support for them to leverage their ways of knowing and succeed in higher education.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to thank Molly F. Morin for helping with the initial draft of this manuscript.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ I utilize the term Latina, which includes racial/ethnic heritages from Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central America, South America (Rodriguez et al., 2000). I incorporate the term Latina-identified and Latinx as gender inclusive terms that move beyond the gender binary (for a comprehensive review of the evolution of the term Latinx, please see Salinas & Lozano, 2017). In citing existing research, I utilize the terms used by the author(s) (e.g., Hispanic, Chicana/o, Latina, and Salvadoran, to name a few).

² According to Engle and Tinto (2008), first-generation college students are defined as students for whom neither parent(s)/legal guardian(s) completed a bachelor’s degree.

³ Although Chicana feminist theory originated with Chicana-identified scholars, the tenets of this theory are applicable to communities within the Latinx/a/o diaspora (see Delgado Bernal et al., 2006).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded in part by a University of Maryland Tier 1 Research Grant and a University of Maryland College of Education Support Program for Advancing Research and Collaboration grant.