"Indican" Community College Transitions: College Readiness Miscommunication Among West Texas Institutions

• In Event: Underrepresented Student Success in Higher Education

Abstract

This critical ethnographic investigation explores the experiences, perspectives, and approaches of 7 Indican students - those identifying as both Indigenous and Mexican (American) - in their first year of community college. Building from the field of Critical Race scholarship, this investigation explores Indican voices illuminating the transition(s) between high school and community college contexts. By centering and channeling their ways of being/knowing, participants fluidly navigate between Indican identities, community, and school space as a means to negotiate between these worlds towards first year survival. Interviews with high school (HS) teachers, community college (CC) instructors, and CC administrators revealed college readiness miscommunications between college placement exam strategies and first year academic performances/expectations.

Author

• Omar O Diaz, University of Texas - Austin