When They See Us: Women of Color Navigating Pathways for Their Children via Charter Schools

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Women and Girls of Color Navigating Academic Pathways (Table 4)

Abstract

Abstract
The primary purpose of this study was to examine the reason(s) women of color were choosing charter schools for their children’s education. Utilizing qualitative methods through face-to-face interviews with eight women, four African American and four Latinx, I sought to examine the decisions that women of color make as they choose charter schools for their children’s education in Texas. Three themes emerged: (a) Chooser’s Agency: “I did what I thought was best for my child”; (b) Data-Informed Decisions: “I looked up the school on Google”; and (c) The Hopeful Alternative: “I knew he wasn’t going back to that school.” These women made their own decisions based on available information, financial and knowledge capital, and their own positionality.

Author

• Donna M. Druery, Texas A&M University