Cultural code-Switching and Chicana/O post-secondary student persistence: A hermeneutic phenomenological analysis

ABSTRACT

This hermeneutic phenomenological study investigated the lived experiences of 12 Chicana/o students who completed a baccalaureate degree at a majority school. The strategies and experiences that Chicana/os used in persisting through a majority college environment were examined. Theoretically, cultural code-switching is considered as a strategy that Chicana/os can use to maintain cultural pride to resist mental colonization. To this purpose, the study analyzed the participants’ code-switching as a strategy to persist through the educational environment. Four themes emerged: (1) family support; (2) sense of belonging; (3) belief in a better quality of life and family values; and (4) code-switching behaviors.

KEYWORDS:

• Chicano student retention
• student identity
• code-switching