¡Culture Empowers! The Pathways to Degree Attainment of First-Generation Latinx Athletes

• In Event: El Juego de la Vida: Understanding Latinx College Athletes in the NCAA

Abstract

Purpose:
The purpose of this study is to explore the interplay of various forms of cultural capital as pathways to degree attainment of first-generation Latinx athletes from NCAA Division I.

Conceptual Framework:
Latinx critical race theory (LatCrit) (Solórzano & Delgado Bernal, 2001) guided this study. LatCrit underscores the larger intersectionality of demographics in a societal context that influences daily experiences of first-generation Latinx athletes on college campuses. This theory is an extension of the critical race theory (CRT), which acknowledged that racism exists within the U.S. society and impacts the experiences of people of color (Solórzano et al., 2005; Tierney, 1993; Valdes, 2005). LatCrit extended CRT by placing Latinx ethnicity at the forefront and expanding the Black-White narrative (Solórzano & Delgado Bernal, 2001). The goal of LatCrit is to counter the narrative of the dominant groups and empower and emancipate Latinxs to bring positive change and serve social justice (Yosso et al., 2001).

Methods and Data:
A qualitative inquiry in the form of a case study was employed (Yin, 2014). The case encompassed first-generation Latinx athletes from non-revenue sports who were selected via purposive sampling (Patton, 2016). The selection criteria included: (1) self-identified Latinx ethnicity; (2) first-generation student status (parents had not earned 4-year degree); (3) participation in an NCAA Division I non-revenue sport (any sport except football and men’s/women’s basketball) given that most Latinx athletes participate in these sports (NCAA, 2019b); and (4) junior or senior academic standing classification. A total of 16 participants from 4 universities volunteered for this study; 9 of them were females and 7 males.
The primary data-gathering method of this study was semi-structured interviews. Participants also completed a demographic sheet and a follow-up online survey to ensure data triangulation (Glesne, 2016). To analyze data, all interviews were transcribed verbatim and then unitized and coded. The subsequent phases involved discovering patterns, identifying themes, and developing categories via content analysis (Patton, 2014).

Findings:
Participants discussed the critical role of cultural capital for their athletic and academic achievement and persistence to degree attainment in college. Participants highlighted their family’s immigration status served as an important source of inspiration for them. The past sacrifices by family motivated participants to pursue college education. Participants also utilized various facets of cultural capital (Yosso, 2005) to succeed in college in their academic pursuits and also within the athletic setting. Lastly, participants employed their athlete status as an opportunity to fight negative stigma about Latinxs in the U.S. by achieving success in the classroom as well as in their sport.

Scholarly Significance:
This study is significant as it contributes to the scarce literature on Latinx college population. As Latinxs participate in college athletics in higher numbers, more practitioners will find first-generation Latinxs on team rosters and in classrooms. As this study demonstrated, it is important for these practitioners to recognize that one approach does not fit all athletes and that Latinxs possess and utilize distinctive cultural, familial, and social capital that they rely on to persist and graduate.

Author

• Nikola Grafnetterova, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi