Inclusion of Latinx Students' Familial Experiences in STEM Educational Research Through Pláticas Methodology

• In Event: Co-Constructing Truth(s) With Latinx Research Collaborators Through the Chicana/Latina Feminist Methodology of Pláticas

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to center the voices and lived experiences of Latinx students in STEM educational research. Through asset-based theoretical frameworks and the culturally relevant methodology of pláticas, this paper challenges STEM educational research, which has traditionally viewed Latinx students as underachieving students with low academic outcomes. Instead, this paper views Latinx students as knowledge holders and experts in navigating STEM majors. This paper focuses on the familial experiences that students bring with them to the classroom to advance their pursuits in STEM.

Theoretical Framework: This study is guided by asset-based theoretical frameworks, namely Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth model (2005) and Rendón et al.’s (2019) Ventajas/assets y Conocimientos/knowledge framework. Assets refer to the strengths that Latinx students have developed from their families, communities, and ancestry, while knowledge refers to the knowledge that Latinx students have gained, which is related to the Latinx asset (Rendón et al., 2014). For example, the navigational asset is the ability to navigate twists and turns in higher education, such as changing majors and learning a new culture (Rendón et al., 2014). An asset-based approach is important because Latinx STEM students are traditionally viewed through a deficit lens as students who are lagging in fields of STEM. Additional concepts guiding this paper are familismo, which has been shown to impact Latinx student identity within STEM (López et al., 2019).

Methods & Data Sources: This study uses the culturally relevant methodology of pláticas, which draws from Chicana/Latina feminist epistemology (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2016). This study is based on 24 Latinx first-generation college students who attended a large research university. Two pláticas were conducted with each participant. The first plática focused on relationship building between the researcher and the research collaborators, explanation of the research project, and learning about the participants’ families and educational backgrounds. The second plática focused on participants’ experiences in STEM. The pláticas also allowed the Latinx students to share non-traditional academic measures of success that were important in their college trajectory. Additionally, observations and reviews of documents were conducted. Further, I employed the notion of “cultural intuition,” which is when a Latina researcher brings their professional and personal experiences into the research process (Delgado Bernal, 1998).

Findings: The use of plática methodology, specifically the back-and-forth conversational dynamics between researcher and participants, led to key findings regarding students’ familial experiences with healthcare and science, which impacted their pursuit of STEM. The following findings will be discussed: 1) familial experiences of racism in healthcare, 2) the impact of familial and linguistic assets on STEM aspirations, and 3) giving back to Latinx communities to address Latinx health disparities.

Significance: This paper emphasizes the need for an epistemological and methodological shift in STEM educational research; to center Latinx students’ knowledges and lived experiences. Furthermore, this paper goes beyond deficit framings of Latinx students in STEM by viewing Latinx students as knowledge holders and recognizing the assets they bring to STEM.

Author

• Katherine Arias Garcia, University of California - Irvine
  Presenting Author