Enacting and Sustaining Equity-Centered Work in Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Organizational, Federal, and Systemic Levers of Change

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

This AERA Presidential Session addresses how federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) can advance racial and intersectional equity in postsecondary educational climates and outcomes. As of the 2024 AERA Annual Conference, about 30 years of federal designation and support for HSIs marks an opportune time to bring researchers, federal funders, and practitioners together to address the question: How and to what extent are HSIs employing their resources, including access to federal funding opportunities, to construct new educational possibilities that challenge the historical and systemic racism faced by minoritized communities? This Presidential Session convenes leading researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who are integrally involved with understanding, supporting, and advancing the work of HSIs to better serve their students. Various stakeholders in the postsecondary ecosystem from research, practice, and federal contexts will be represented, including two (Núñez and Gates) who work daily in HSI contexts, two who work in emerging HSIs where there is focused intentionality to reach the designation
(Hurtado and Garcia) and two federal leaders who oversee significant investments in HSIs (Ceja and Moore). Each panelist will bring different experience and expertise to illuminate the work of HSIs and their potential to contribute to postsecondary equity. After brief presentations from the panelists, the chair of the session will facilitate a conversation with the audience about how HSIs can challenge institutionalized racism and exclusion to broaden educational opportunities for historically underserved groups.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chair

• Anne-Marie Nunez, University of Texas - El Paso

Participants

• Anne-Marie Nunez, University of Texas - El Paso

• Gina Ann Garcia, University of California - Berkeley

• James L. Moore, National Science Foundation

• Sylvia Hurtado, University of California - Los Angeles

• Ann Quiroz Gates, University of Texas - El Paso

Discussant

• Anne-Marie Nunez, University of Texas - El Paso