Emotional Contagion and Universities' Reputations: How Students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions Navigate the Rhetorics of Institutional Prestige

• In Event: 64.067 - Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Enhancing Experiences and Services

Abstract

Drawing on interviews from a longitudinal study with 59 undergraduates, this qualitative project explores how students of various ethnoracial identities at three Hispanic Serving Institutions navigate the framing of institutional prestige as they prepare to apply for graduate programs in the humanities and social sciences. We anchor this manuscript by drawing on the organizational and psychological framework of “emotional contagion” as way of understanding how students experience an affective ripple effect based on the negative messages they receive about their institution’s reputation as they prepare to apply for graduate education. We offer student-generated counternarratives to demonstrate relevant strategies that practitioners and faculty can adopt to better support students with graduate aspirations at Hispanic Serving Institutions.

Authors

• Andrés Castro Samayoa, Boston College

• Andrew Martinez, University of Pennsylvania

• Paola Roberta Esmieu, University of Pennsylvania

• Marybeth Gasman, University of Pennsylvania