For Something Larger Than Oneself: How Students From Hispanic-Serving Institutions Transition to Graduate Programs

• In Event: Exploring the Student Experience at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Abstract

Drawing on a subsample of interviews from a longitudinal study undergraduates at three Hispanic Serving Institutions, this qualitative project examines how 31 students navigate their transitions from HSIs into doctoral programs at predominantly white institutions. We draw on funds of knowledge and intersectionality to examine the vectors of influence that prepare students to navigate new environments. Our analysis reveals how students’ conception of their hogares (homes of origin) offer a generative metaphor to confront the challenges and hostility they describe in their graduate preparation. We offer student-generated counternarratives highlighting 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