Daughter and Scholar: Latina Graduate Students Navigating Familismo and the Good Daughter Dilemma

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

Abstract

This paper will explore the concept of familismo (Marin, 1993) for Latina graduate students through a borderlands framework (Anzaldúa, 1987) by positing that Latina graduate students are constantly straddling multiple worlds in both a geographic and ideological sense as they balance their roles of daughter and student. While familismo emphasizes the interconnectedness of family, it is important to understand how Latina graduate women's experiences, transitions, and persistence in graduate study are shaped by familismo (Marin, 1993). Researchers have explored the experiences of people of color in graduate programs (Gardner 2011; González, 2006; Patton & Harper, 2003), but few studies focus on Latina graduate students, especially with regard to navigating family influences and responsibilities. Through an examination of the literature through a borderlands lens, the authors analyze Latina graduate student experiences in higher education as well as the role of family in Latina educational contexts, which further illuminate how Latina graduate students navigate their experiences among family and academe. Applying Anzaldúa’s concepts of mestiza consciousness, which embraces contradictions and duality as a survival tool, and borderlands to a traditional concept such as familismo will offer unique insights into understanding how Latina graduate students balance their multiple and potentially conflicting roles of daughter and scholar.

As Latinas navigate their graduate school experiences, familismo can take on the role of a double-edged sword of pressure and support. Latinas can experience feelings of guilt and stress in not being able to fulfill family expectations, while also relying on family as a support system to overcome the cultural isolation they may feel at their respective institutions (Espinoza, 2010, Gándara, 1995). Latinas, in contrast to Latino males, also contend with patriarchy in their home and school environments (Ovink, 2004) as Latinas’ traditional roles are often seen within the context of the home environment as mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters (Gonzalez, Jovel, & Stoner, 2004) resulting in gendered familismo for Latinas. In the spirit of mestiza consciousness, Latina graduate students may experience “choque[s]…cultural collision[s]” between their home and school environment as they develop a “tolerance for ambiguity” (Anzaldúa, 1987, pp. 78-79).

The significance of this paper is timely as the Latina/o population continues to rise and more Latinas enter graduate education. By understanding the unique experiences of Latina graduate students and the challenges they face in balancing family and academe, institutions and educators can better support these women through their graduate journeys.

Authors

• Molly Morin, University of Maryland - College Park

• Veronica Pecero, The Ohio State University