Using Cultural Intuition to Contextualize the College Choices of Latinas: Nepantleras Colegiales Guiding Conocimiento Colegial

• In Event: Chicana Feminist Approaches to Theorizing About Chicana/Latina Educational Inequalities in Higher Education

Abstract

OBJECTIVE

Chicana feminist theory guides this paper in examining the college choices and transitions of low-income first-generation Latinas who aspired to earn a four-year degree. This paper provides a framework to bridge the high aspirations of Latinas with high expectations as they choose and transition into college.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This paper uses the theoretical frameworks of conocimiento colegial (Acevedo-Gil, in press) and nepantleras (Anzaldúa, 2002). Conocimiento colegial bridges the college choice and college transition processes of Latinas/os. Conocimiento colegial is a seven-stage framework that results in a reflective collegial consciousness where Latina/o students use their ethnic/racial identity and social positionalities (e.g., class, gender) to successfully navigate college. Within this framework, the paper centers the concept of nepantleras. Anzaldúa explains that nepantleras hold multiple identities within opposing worlds, and are agents who cultivate critical consciousness, self-reflection, and the process of learning to shift between worlds. When examining how Latinas navigate college choice, college guidance counselors served as nepantleras/os to navigate the bridges between high school and college.

METHODS

Critical race grounded methodology (CRGM; Malagon, Perez Huber, & Velez, 2009) guided this study. CRGM calls for researchers to use the Chicana feminist concept of cultural intuition (Delgado Bernal, 1998), which incorporates a researcher’s personal, academic, and professional experiences, and an analytical research process (Malagon et al., 2009). Oral history interviews were collected in order to understand what the participants did, what they wanted to do, and what they believed they were doing (Portelli, 1991) during the college choice and transition processes. These data illustrated how the participants’ personal and educational histories influenced their educational aspirations.

DATA SOURCES

Sources of data were derived from a larger qualitative case study situated within one high school in California. Data for this particular paper focused on the oral history interviews with 25 Latina students during twelfth grade and follow-up interviews prior to their second term in college.

FINDINGS

This study bridged the participants’ college choice and college integration processes to establish conocimiento colegial—a theoretical framework that results in a reflective collegial consciousness where Latina participants used their ethnic/racial identities and social positionalities to navigate college successfully. Findings also establish the role of nepantleras colegiales who build bridges into postsecondary education by assisting students with navigating the college admissions and transition processes.

SCHOLARLY SIGNIFICANCE

Although most Latina high school students aspire to earn a college degree, they do not expect to meet their educational goals (National Women’s Law Center & MALDEF, 2009). Roderick, Ngaoka, and Allensworth (2006) define the gap between college aspirations and outcomes as the “most vexing problem in education.” Higher education theories do not account for the cultural, racial, social, and historical experiences of Latinas through the use of interdisciplinary theories (Burciaga, 2007; Cueva, 2013). Chicana feminist concepts enable the development of a framework to bridge high aspirations with high expectations and, ideally, improve educational outcomes of Latinas and other students of color.

Author

• Nancy Acevedo-Gil, California State University - San Bernardino