The Experiences of First-Generation Afro–Puerto Rican Women College Students

• In Event: More Just and Equitable Higher Education: Cultivating First-Generation College Student Success for the 21st Century

Abstract

Purpose: Afro-Latinas, Latinas of African descent, also called Afro-Boricuas, exist at the intersections of culture, race, gender, and class, and this position informs how we experience our world. This unique experiential perspective is present when we decide to attend college. Being also a first-generation college student compounds the extent to which we can bring together our different identities to succeed in college.

Theoretical Frameworks: The overarching theory framing the methodological approach was critical race theory (Bell, 1995). Rogoff’s notion of cultural ways of knowing (2003), and development through participation in sociocultural activities (1995), was used to remind myself that we are all created from a cultural context. Looking at action in context, action being the unit of analysis within sociocultural theory (John-Steiner & Mahn, 1996), this allowed me to see and hear the sometimes untold and unheard stories of the Afro-Boricuas. Afro-Boricuas utilize the resources available to her in order for her to navigate the educational environment specifically and her world in general.

Methods: This research project is qualitative in nature, focusing on narrative inquiry in the form of testimonios. Narrative inquiry is a useful tool for this research project. It can be used to examine the lives of marginalized communities like Afro-Boricuas by letting the women themselves “tell [their] own stories, write [their] own versions, in [their] ways for [their] own purposes” (Smith, et al, 2009, p. 29). Beverley (1991, 2004) speaks extensively of the form of narrative inquiry that best captures lives of Latinos across the diaspora - the testimonio. Cruz-Janzen (2000) summaries this eloquently when she states, “oral histories tell more and are often closer to the truth that what is written or discussed in polite society” (p. 1). The testimonio will allow the space for including being first-generation in the racial and cultural experiences of Afro-Boricuas.

Data Sources: Five Afro-Boricua women who were first-generation college students participated in this study. Four of the five attended medium to large public or private educational institutions in the United States. One attended a small private all-women’s college in the southeast. All were interviewed during the fall and spring of 2014.

Results: The research offered the unique perspective of the first-generation Afro-Boricua as we explored the various classroom experiences, out-of-class engagements, and the resulting redefining of spaces so that belonging is reconstructed and broadened to make difference the norm. All these aspects of their experiences were connected to their academic success and persistence to graduation.

Scholarly Significance: The insights gained from this qualitative study provided nuance to understand both Latine and African American/Black student populations. Student affairs professionals can see how the intersectional lives of Afro-Boricua women, and other students who sit at the intersections of identities, would benefit from programs that reflect their actual lived experiences.

Author

• Marie Nubia Feliciano, Chapman University