The value of scholar-practitioner cultural intuition in transforming educational systems

Abstract

In this manuscript, we discuss how we, four women scholar-practitioners of color (WSPoC), utilize their cultural intuition (CI) to navigate the work place and academia in the context of our professional roles situated within STEM-M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics-Medicine) K-16 setting. We collectively shared our testimonios through platicás in writing group sessions creating a virtual counterspace that allowed us to examine the role of CI in our lives. From that examination, we developed a conceptual model of Scholar-Practitioner Cultural Intuition (SP-CI) consisting of five tenets. The objectives of this manuscript are to describe the testimonio process, the conceptual model that emerged from the analysis of the testimonios, and the model itself. Thus, this manuscript strives to reconstruct and reimagine the understanding of how scholar practitioners (SP) navigate and advocate for themselves and students within racist educational structures and systems.

Keywords:

• Scholar-practitioner
• cultural intuition
• STEM-M
• testimonios
• platicás

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 Before we ventured into the path of conocimiento, Romasanta et al. (2023) examined ‘our journey’ as women scholar-practitioners of color, more thoroughly, and focuses on the in-between space of nepantla, or our border crossing experiences that involve us moving within and among multiple worlds.

2 Pre-conference survey responses, “I know what an engineer or scientist does” (35%) and “I CAN be an engineer or scientist” (51%), followed by post-conference responses at 93% and 91% respectively (Harper-Marinick, 2015).

3 At the time of this collaboration and writing, Reyes was the Dean at Phoenix College, AZ. She has recently started a position at Google where her commitment to Latinx student and STEM-M participation will continue.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Janet Rocha

Janet Rocha

is a Research Assistant Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. As a transformative scholar, educator, and practitioner, she brings a ten-year record of liberatory programming that helps students build on their cultural wealth, strengthen their toolkits, and empower them to see themselves as holders and creators of knowledge, and social change agents. She draws upon asset-based frameworks to understand minoritized students’ subjective experiences and uses this knowledge when designing, implementing, and assessing programs. She aims to strengthen the already possessed cultural wealth that students bring to school. Dr. Rocha aspires to bridge the gap between educational research and practice by implementing liberatory opportunities and innovative methodologies to better support and understand students’ lived experiences in and out of the classroom.

Tamara Coronella

Tamara Coronella

is the Director of Student Success and Engagement at Arizona State University’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. She has 20 years of experience in student services and engagement with graduate and undergraduate students. As a critical race scholar and practitioner, her professional work focuses on developing equity approaches within academic advising, student engagement, and academic support programs and services. Her work focuses on bringing the voices of Latinas in STEM towards the foreground, not only listening to them, but engaging them in shaping the understanding and execution of practices. Fueled by the cultural intuition passed on to her by her college-educated mother and unwavering nana, she strives to create access and equity for Latinas in STEM.

Maria Reyes

Maria Reyes

is the Global Workforce Innovation & Development Manager for Google Cloud. Prior to this, she served as an administrator in higher education for more than 25 years with dedication to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented populations in the STEM disciplines. Ms. Reyes is the author and contributing writer to over 20 academic publications with an emphasis on the social and cultural pedagogies of minorities in STEM environments. Her passion for education goes beyond the classroom as she designed leadership and outreach programs for women of color in STEM and mentored countless women who have successfully pursued a STEM career. She was awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant from the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) for $2.4 million for which she served as the Principal Investigator (PI) entitled: Work-focused Experiential Learning to Increase STEM Student Retention and Graduation at Two-year Hispanic-serving Institutions. She was recently appointed as a Commissioner for the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics by President Biden.

Lindsay Romasanta

Lindsay Romasanta

serves as Chief of Staff for the Division of Student Affairs at University of California, Davis. She has over 13 years of direct higher education experience providing thought leadership and strategy to ensure that universities center equity-minded, holistic, student-centered support. Her work is grounded in the fundamental belief that institutions need to critically transform structures and systems to support students from an asset based lens. She has a demonstrated record of assisting public universities in doing so, from her work in federally funded T RiO programs, student success centers, and student affairs and diversity, equity and inclusion divisions. She also served as the inaugural founding co-editor of the Journal for First-generation Student Success, the nation’s first journal to focus specifically on first-generation college students. Dr. Romasanta is a proud low-income, first-generation, college graduate.