College Choice con Ganas: The Critical Role of Familia in Latinx Students' College Choice Processes

• In Event: Latinx Students and Families Choosing College and Graduate School

Abstract

This paper situates Latinx students’ college choice processes within a collective (the family unit) rather than individual context to argue that Latinx families play an important role in shaping the college decision-making processes of Latinx students. We draw on Critical Race Feminista Praxis (Delgado Bernal & Aleman, 2016) to propose a partnership model that centers and leverages Latinx families as critical stakeholders that effectively promote and nurture incoming Latinx students’ college choices and aspirations. This paper draws on the individual and collective voices of 20 self-identified Latinx students who participated in a one-one-one, semi-structured interview. Our study finds that Latinx students continue to draw on their families for motivation, support, and racial/ethnic identity development well beyond the college choice process.

Authors

• Frances Contreras, University of California - Irvine

• Mayra Puente, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Brianna R Ramirez, University of California - San Diego