Where Do I Fit? The Intersectional Experiences of Second-Generation Immigrant Graduate Students in Academia

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Two
  In Roundtable Session: Living and Learning at the Margins: Undocumented, Immigrant, and Students of Color Navigating Postsecondary Institutions (Table 9)

Abstract

Second-generation immigrant students experience academia in a unique manner, and the intersections of their racial, ethnic, and gender identities further complicate these experiences. In this paper, we engage in a collaborative autoethnography to center and interrogate our intersectional experiences as Black, second-generation immigrant women within academia. Using a combination of intersectionality and community cultural wealth as analytical lenses, we illuminate how various cultural assets were leveraged and cultural challenges were navigated to maneuver the unfamiliar and often oppressive terrain of higher education and academia. We utilize our lived experiences to offer implications for praxis., namely how ours’ and others’ cultural and generational wealth can be nurtured and leveraged in academic settings.

Authors

• Ezinne Ofoegbu, Santa Clara University
  Presenting Author

• Leslie Uchenna Ekpe, Texas A&M University - Commerce
  Presenting Author