A Story of a Latina Professor: Predicting Success Through Inquiry

• In Event: Perpetual Seekers of Understanding: Stories of Immigrant Professors of Education in the United States

Abstract

Purpose. The research question that guided this ethnographic essay is: How does a Latina PhD. holder navigate her academic, cultural and social experiences in the context of becoming a professor?
Theoretical framework. The theoretical framework that guides this paper is Latina/o critical race theory (LatCrit). LatCrit is an approach developed to understand the voices and concerns of Latinas and how they have remained resilient and were able to succeed despite the inequities they have confronted (Delgado, Burciaga & Carmona, 2012; Osorio, 2018, Valdés, 2019). It also facilitates the recognition of students of color as holders and creators of knowledge (Bernal, 2002). Through a LatCrit lens, Latina women can self-identify by pinpointing “experiences not lived within the dominant Black-white paradigm for racial discourse in the United States” (Trucios-Haynes, 2015, p.5). Many Latina women leave their countries to further their studies and thus acquire the status of being international students. International students are those individuals who leave their country to pursue studies outside their national borders (OECD, 2017).
Method. The method of inquiry in this paper is autoethnography. This is a reflexive reflective exercise in which I describe individuals and events in a manner evocative of the lived experiences of an immigrant woman in the United States. An autoethnography connects the personal (auto) to the cultural (ethnos) placing the self within a social context (Reed-Danahay, 1997 as cited in Davies, McGregor & Horan, 2019). I chose this method to give voice to my personal experiences to understand my journey of becoming a professor in the United States. I choose to use the “I” pronoun to tell my story. I also choose to present direct quotes in Spanish as I narrate my pathway through two countries using two different languages.
Findings/insights. I present results based on the experiences as a teacher, graduate student and later as a newly graduate in the form of emerging themes. These themes include: consumption and production of knowledge, assessing lived experiences and privilege, cultural and family values, connecting with roots and handling ALL challenges.
Implications. Findings of this study inform university administrators, scholars and student services professionals in thinking about the lived experiences of international female students who come to the United States to further their study. This becomes especially important because of students need to identify with faculty mentors who understand the challenges and opportunities that Latino students (or any) may face at the university.
This is significant because it is known that the Latino/ Hispanic population is about 58.9 million (18.1 % of the total population), making them the largest ethnic or racial minority as of the 2017 US Census (US Census, 2018). It is also significant because the number of individuals speaking Spanish in their home has increased in the last few years (US Census, 2018), therefore, highlighting empirical work using the Spanish language becomes a key initiative.

Author

• Maria D. Vásquez-Colina, Florida Atlantic University