Academic Resilience of Mexican Heritage Women in College: Transforming Meaningful Information Into Asset-Based Resources

• In Event: Latina/o Narratives, Counterstories, and Duoethnographies of Students and Faculty in Higher Education

Abstract

This study builds on asset-based research that acknowledges the continuity of cultural assets and resources utilized among Latinx students in their educational trajectories. The functionality of individuals’ subjective sense- and meaning-making with explicit familial and cultural contexts as foundational to students’ academic resilience. Drawing upon LatCrit and Community Cultural Wealth to theorize about first-generation college Latinas make sense/meaning of their heritage, and in connection with their college-going identities, can help identify factors that contributed to their educational persistence. The study examined how seven women of Mexican heritage cultivated their academic resilience. Findings suggest that the participants made meaning of familial cuentos/consejos in their daily lives, conceptualized their own positive attitudes and behaviors towards education in the form of asset-based resources.

Authors

• Janet Rocha, Northwestern University

• Tamara Coronella, Arizona State University