How Latinx College Students Experience Institutional Resources at an Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution

• In Event: Latinx Students Thriving: Exploring the Experiences of Latinx Students With Campus Resources

Abstract

As the number of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and emerging Hispanic Serving Institutions (eHSIs) increases, so does the need to understand how Latinx students access institutional resources and programs intended for their educational equity. Guided by Garcia et al.'s (2019) framework for understanding “servingness” at HSIs, this study asks how Latinx students at an eHSI experience servingness by engaging with campus resources. Drawing from 96 interviews, findings suggest that student engagement depends on visibility of the resource, perception of the authenticity of the resource, how the university addresses and defines the “Latinx” student identity and experience, and student access to “insider knowledge.” These findings have implications for how universities might better attend to the needs of Latinx students.

Author

• Nora Turriago, University of California - San Diego