Creando Comunidad: Experiences of Latina Faculty and Staff Mentors at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

Abstract

Guided by Chicana Feminist Epistemology, the authors of this study discuss the experiences of 16 Latina faculty and staff who served as mentors in a Latina undergraduate mentoring program at a research-extensive public university designated as a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI). This article focuses on findings from interviews as mentors made sense of their own educational trajectories and discussed how the mentoring program affected them. Findings indicate that although mentors initially joined the program to guide undergraduate Latinas, they also benefitted from a faculty and staff peer network and felt a greater sense of belonging in an institution where they sometimes felt isolated. The findings demonstrate the importance of such mentoring programs at HSIs and can inform how mentoring programs for Latinx students can be designed in ways that benefit multiple stakeholders.

ACKNOWLDGEMENT

Thank you to all comadres who generously shared their experiences with us. Muchísimas gracias as well to all members of the research collective who provided feedback on this manuscript and supported the research process: Stephanie Rendon, Alyssa Chavez, Citlali Chavana, Liandra Larsen, and Stephanie Perez-Gill. We are also indebted to Dr. Raven Jones and her constant support of Las Comadres. This work was supported by the following University of Houston grants: Provost's Women of Color Stimulus Research Grant and the New Faculty Research Award.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ Members of Las Comadres identify in various ways (e.g., Latina, Chicana, Mexican American, Central American, Hispanic, etc.). For brevity, we will use Latina throughout the article.

² Given the public role of this program and to acknowledge the contributions it provides to Latinas on this campus, we share the actual program name and institution. However, for confidentiality, pseudonyms and generalizations about campus positions are used for all study participants. Authors’ names are used within the article.

³ Sometimes, this designation is based on membership in the American Association of Universities (AAU), and related to The Carnegie of Institutions of Higher Education ranking based on high research activity. See more at https://uh.edu/about/tier-one/.

⁴ To be gender-inclusive, we will use Latinx throughout the article, unless specifically talking about Latina women or when using the descriptor used by other authors, such as here.

⁵ We refer to staff as employees with non-teaching responsibilities that support university educational functions, research, and service programs.

⁶ We found two spellings of this concept: mujerista and muxerista. In this article, we refer to the spelling that the authors we are citing used. Both terms seem to hold similar meanings and are informed by Chicana Feminist Epistemology.

⁷ Alarcón and Bettez (2017) use the term Latin@ in their article, which is sometimes used by scholars instead of Latino or Latina/o.

⁸ Real names are used for members of the research team.

⁹ Las Comadres mentees and mentors were not required to participate in the study.

¹⁰ Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was an executive action passed by President Obama in 2012 that allows undocumented immigrants who meet certain criteria access to a work permit and other benefits. It is a temporary status that must be renewed and includes a fee.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by University of Houston [New Faculty Research Award; Provost’s Women of Color Stimulus Research Grant].