Dancing Our Way to College: Latinas Activating Community Cultural Wealth to Transition and Complete College

• In Event: Reimagining College Access, Culture, and Power Through the Pre-K–16 Pipeline for Latina/o/x Students

Abstract

Objectives
Recent research indicates that one in four female students in public schools is Latina, and by 2060, Latinas will form nearly one-third of the female population in the United States (Gándara, 2015). In addition, the Latina educational pipeline indicates that our of 100 Latina students who start elementary school only 13 will graduate with a bachelor’s degree, four will complete a graduate degree, and only 0.3 will complete a doctorate (Perez Huber et al., (2015). This study examines the influence of community-based folklórico programs on the aspirations, and the development of transferable skills of Latinas.
Theoretical Framework
This study examined the aspirations of Latina folklórico dancers and how they accumulate and operationalize community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) while participating in folklórico programs that are transferable to college, career, and life in general. This study recognizes research that addresses the disconnect between education aspirations and outcomes for Latinas (Pew Research Center, 2009).
Methods
The method of this study was an instrumental case study, which helps us to understand phenomena or connections within it (Stake, 1995). This study included semi-structured individual interviews with former folklórico dancers and a parent of each dancer. A focus group with folklórico leadership, as well as analysis of journals from each of the leadership team members. Documents associated with the organization of the folklórico were also analyzed.
Data Sources
The study included interviews with eight former Latina folklórico dancers and seven of their parents. Each former dancer participated in the folklórico program for at least ten years while attending middle school or high school. A focus group of the folklórico leadership team was also included as well as journals from each leadership team member. Data was analyzed using an inductive approach using in vivo coding with process and causation coding (Saldaña, 2015).
Results
Findings highlighted the aspirations of folklórico dancers as well as the influence that participating in folklórico had on their aspirations and the development of transferable skills. This study discovered the “folklórico cycle” which depicts the development of skills and qualities that contribute to the accumulation of community cultural wealth and results in the ability of Latina folklórico dancers to operationalize and apply capitals successfully from the transition to the post-secondary environment through college completion as well as career and life in general.

Scholarly Significance
This qualitative study focuses on Latina folklórico dancers as a microcosm of the larger problem of the representation of Latinas in higher education. This study demonstrates the operationalization of the capitals included in community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) by recognizing the folklórico cycle that occurs by participating in folklórico programs and how it can be applied to higher education. Furthermore, this study aims to identify an alternative pathway for Latinas to transition to college, and highlights Latinas who have participated in folklórico programs as a population equipped with the skills, qualities, and capitals needed to successfully transition to and complete a post-secondary education.

Author

• Jennifer Aguirre, California State University - San Bernardino