Nuancing the First-Generation Student Label: Examining the Educational Experiences of Latina/Chicana Motherscholars and Daughterscholars

• In Event: 35.036 - Women of Color Feminisms, Epistemologies, and Knowledge Production as Historical and Contemporary Truth in Education

Abstract

Objectives
Research examining differences in the educational experiences of college students by generational status affirms there is a pressing need to support the academic advancement of first-generation Latina/Chicana scholars as they occupy a growing presence in U.S. society (Giancola, Munz, & Trares, 2008; Gándara, 2015). However, there is a dearth of scholarship which centers the experiences of Latina/Chicana first-generation and continuing-generation students, and the processes by which they enact agency and resilience in their pursuits of higher learning (Kouyoumdjian et.al., 2017; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2018). This research analyzes the complex relationships Latina/Chicana motherscholar-daughterscholar dyads concurrently enrolled in college, develop while they negotiate their intersectional identities as mothers, daughters, scholars, and Latina/Chicana women. Drawing on data gathered from newspaper articles written between 2011 and 2018, this work considers the following: (1)What can newspaper articles written in the U.S. between 2011-2018 reveal about Latina/Chicana motherscholar-daughterscholar educational experiences? (2) How might these narratives complicate or complement traditional perceptions of, and discussions about the first-generation college-going Latina/Chicana?

Theoretical Framework(s)
This study draws on Chicana Feminist Epistemology (Delgado Bernal, 1998) and Critical Race Theory in Education (Solórzano & Yosso, 2000). These frameworks allow for the exploration of the racialized and gendered trajectories of Latina/Chicana motherscholars and daughterscholars pursuing higher education concurrently.

Methods
This qualitative study focuses specifically on analyzing online and print news articles that bring attention to stories about Latina/Chicana motherscholar-daughterscholar pairs who graduated in the same year, from the same higher education institution in the United States, between the years 2011 and 2018. It incorporates document analysis (Bowen, 2009) as the primary methodology used throughout the study.

Findings
Findings reveal that the Latina/Chicana MS-DS pairs report similar sources of support and challenges in their pursuit of higher learning (i.e. positive influences from their dyadic counterpart to continue moving forward in spite of academic, economic, or familial hardships). Moreover, regardless of college generation status, the motherscholars and daughterscholars continue to be exposed to similar ecological contexts, and therefore experience many areas of overlap in their college pursuits. While many of the mothers and daughters centered in the articles would be considered first-generation students when measured against definitions in existing scholarship, the literature surrounding college generation status cannot help researchers fully articulate the ways MS-DS pairs negotiate the first-generation student label given its limiting conceptualization. Analyzing the educational experiences of this unique population, in light of a continuing-generation student (Giancola, Munz, & Trares, 2008) paradigm, would help researchers nuance discussions about their college trajectories.

Scholarly Significance
This research adds nuance to scholarly discussions surrounding college generation status by critically analyzing the educational trajectories of Latina/Chicana motherscholar-daughterscholar dyads navigating higher education in the U.S. Moreover, it adds to existing scholarship by bringing visibility to an often invisible population (continuing-generation students and motherscholars), while methodologically affirming the presence of motherscholars and daughterschoalrs in the United States.

Author

• Cindy Raquel Escobedo, University of California - Los Angeles