Reframing Education Deserts as Places of Desire: Rural Latinx Students' Pursuit of Higher Education

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: Dismantling Oppression in Higher Education (Table 10)

Abstract

Previous research on college opportunity has identified Latinx communities and rural counties as “education deserts,” which are places that have few accessible college options. This concept reinforces the dominant notion that institutionally marginalized communities are perpetually damaged. This paper challenges the deficit framing of rural Latinx communities as “education deserts” by reframing these communities as places of desire. Through a desire-based framework, this study conducted Chicana/Latina feminist pláticas and asset-based college access maps with 16 rural Latinx high school seniors from California’s San Joaquin Valley. Findings show that despite navigating structural inequities in an “education desert,” students had (a) hope, (b) a keen sense of self, and (c) a sense of collectivity that motivated their pursuit of higher education.

Author

• Mayra Puente, University of California - Santa Barbara
  Presenting Author