Promoting Leadership Through Mentoring: Access and Community Cultural Wealth in Two Pre-Collegiate Programs

• In Event: 47.086 - Fusing Mentoring Frameworks: A Critical Praxis to Affirm Women's Endeavours in a Post-Truth Era

Abstract

Objectives

This study explored the influence of reciprocal mentorship for two female faculty of color from various parts of the U.S. who developed curriculum and taught in two pre-collegiate programs. In this post-truth era, the authors seek to centralize their voices along with their students through equitable, intersectional, and social justice methods aligning to culturally sustainable education. The research questions guiding this study were (1) how do we as women of color program leaders mentor each other through two pre-collegiate programs, and (2) how do students make meaning of community cultural wealth (CCW) in their counterstories?

Perspectives or Theoretical Framing

CCW frames the research through six capital assets: aspirational, linguistic, familial, navigational, social, and resistant capitals (Author, 2017; Pérez Huber, 2009; Yosso, 2005). CCW (Yosso, 2005) is used as a lens to deconstruct students’ counterstories providing insight into their multiple intersectional experiences based on their socio-economic, ethnic, linguistic, and racialized identities (Solórzano & Yosso, 2001). Additionally, counterstories (Solórzano & Yosso, 2001) and feminist co-mentoring (McGuire and Reger, 2003) framed their mentoring dialogues.

Methodology and Data Sources

Data was gathered from two main sources. First, insights from researchers’ counterstories were documented from researchers journals and monthly phone/virtual conferences capturing the process of reciprocal mentoring as program leaders in two pre-collegiate programs. The authors shared their counterstory reflections connecting their own Black/Chicana feminist leadership modes. Their counterstories were based on personal experiences in the program and the growth of students noted in student writing samples.

The second data source included 30 high school students’ writing samples from two pre-collegiate programs. Pre-collegiate program A is located in a western city. It addressed specific Latinx academic needs and provided access to higher education opportunities while affirming students’ cultural and racial assets. Pre-collegiate program B is located in an eastern city, and promoted pre-college curriculum for 9-12 low-income, first generation students of color in high school math, literature, and science. Students were asked to write counterstories connecting their lives to three asset capitals from the CCW framework (i.e., resistant, familial and others). All counterstories were coded line by line using NVivo software until saturation was met.

Findings
Three prominent themes emerged from the data: (1) understanding our roles as women of color mentors and program leaders, (2) program tensions and constraints; and (3) student engagement in pre-collegiate programs as positively influencing their academic aspirations.

Significance

The impact of counterstories is a powerful tool for people of color to tell their own truth and confront current anti-Mexican/anti-Dreamer, and anti-students of color sentiments. In this post-truth era, it is crucial to build the strength and identity of students, and foment opportunities for them to reflect on their own CCW. The author’s reciprocal mentorship promoted robust pre-college pathway programs that sought to increase students of color advancement into higher education. Here we argue that hope rises in these kinds of equitable educational opportunities.

Authors

• Antonette M. Aragon, Colorado State University

• Makini Z. Beck, Rochester Institute of Technology